erin flett

DESIGN*SPONGE -SUPER HUGE THANK YOU

2012-01-20T06:57:00.000-05:00

One of my all time favorite blogs posted this yesterday. Speechless. All time record hits to my etsy. So so thankful to them!!! e

new pillows from erin flett | Design*Sponge

2012 15" Pillows!

2012-01-06T17:17:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! So excited about this year..going to be amazing. Kiddos are doing well and thriving and I am well, getting a good list of things going that I want to do better around here. I was really busy last few months and worked way too much and well, I became very sick. Coughing and a cold should not last for two months but seriously what was going on...not enough sleep and too many creative projects all at once..(I never thought I could run out of steam) but my body could not keep up. So I promised myself I will slow down a bit, go to yoga and do my gym time more consistently and yes the list goes on..so this year is about balance, kids having enough socks and underwear clean and me spending a ton of time designing and printing the things I love.

I finally had some SUN around here and did a mimi shoot in my bedroom--(has amazing light). So just a quick overview of the different prints that we just finished printing and stitching! You will notice TWO different fabrics. ONE being my standard lovely natural BARKCLOTH that I have been using since the start of my little business and NOW I am using a OATMEAL RECYCLED POLY Twill COTTON that is recycled soda bottles, recycled poly and cotton. ALL woven in the USA just like our original bark cloth. It's super soft, nice heavy weight and has a canvas backing that matches for the back slip covers. We are using a natural darker muslin for the hand screened tag on these. I looked for over a year for a darker USA woven fabric that we could add to the line. I finally found it..I hope you love it as much as I do. Basically for me it warms the pillows up a bit for FALL OR WINTER and or feels more organic or natural. Some people mentioned to me that they felt the natural bark cloth felt seasonal...and I struggled with wanting a ground that was a tad more earthy. SO this for me is the best of both.

AND don't forget to notice our new LETTER PRESSED hang tags. They are super lovely, Mark at Dunstan Press here in Maine did them on chip board just like my cards. IN BLACK of course. I love the utilitarian look and feel of the chip board..and ironically it totally matches the new oatmeal ground.

Thank you for all the support, letters and great feedback on ETSY. I hope you like the new shots...Cheers! e

WINTER PICNIC // New Pillows

2011-12-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share a few pics of the HOLIDAY PICNIC 3rd Annual Picnic Holiday Sale that took place here in Portland on Sunday, Dec 11, 2011.

Maslen + girls and I had a blast with YETTI and ended up selling a all time record amount of pillows, paper, frames and calendars! Thank you all who came by and said hello! We had no time to shoot images but here are a few that we managed to get inbetween all the buying, shopping madness!

Happy Holidays everyone! Looking forward to next year!

FINALLY! POP STORE OPENS + New Rounds + Piping + 2012 Flip Wiro Calendar

2011-12-04T09:01:00.005-05:00

Okay. So I have been totally insane busy...every client I have has kicked things in high gear, holiday shows, new prints, rounds, calendars and the POP store (100 Commercial Street, Down Town Old Port, Portland Maine...SPACE GALLERY cards---all of it--a great few months of creative surge of energy and production! All of it has come together. After the holiday the girls + mas and I will go on a much earned vaca and escape hopefully to a log cabin somewhere--with nothing but running hot water and the amazing Maine wilderness. BUT for now, deadlines are soaring and I am on top of it--(and will pass out from all of it and take long naps with the girls and drink loads of hot tea very soon!.

Please stop by the POP store that is only open through the holidays...a great collection of fine art, photography and hand made goodies from local MAINE designers....and a 10x6 space for all my new prints and 15" pillows as well as the new recycled oatmeal fabric that is super amazing. (woven in the USA, recycled soda bottles, poly and cotton.

Check out the new ROUNDS. I have been fine tuning these babies for half the year. Not sure what the deal was, but they were much more complicated then I thought even though I found a vintage one that I tried to mimic. I can't tell you how much fun I had when Mas brought them home finally from my stitcher...the piping was a major concern and I am in love with the random color of mixing piping and prints...

The calendar is HERE and ready to go! CLOSE BUY catalog has closed and I have a limited supply of these little gems. I really love the silver wiro. It added a ton on cost but hopefully folks will like the simplicity and ease of it. Maggie Hoople at East Shore hooked me up with PRINTING--super amazing quality. If you ever need help sourcing anything PRINT related contact her. She is amazing and a dear dear friend/mentor. I love her.

More prints-NEW 15" CUTS Finally Printed!

2011-11-27T20:23:00.001-05:00

Excited to share a few new prints printed on our new medium sized cuts--that will eventually be 15" square pillows among a few 13" rounds.

Among our original natural bark cloth, we just found a 50% recycled USA woven oatmeal color fabric that is a combination of poly and cotton. It's super soft and a beautiful organic color.

I Just wanted to give a sneak peek of our print run from today.

Also, excited that my amazing cousin Amanda is visiting here--she is a graphic designer as well and going to share my studio for the week! --Type and design obsession definitely must run in the family! So we printed today and escaped for a few hours with my mom to our favorite junking spots and landed a killer abstract painting that was super fun--and of course had a huge splash of orange so I could not resist. See big photo below. I love that it was in the back of a old chicken coop under a bunch of junk---and now it is front and center in my living room! Love it. Notice B curled up with her new blanket from Grandma Vivian on my crazy new flokati rug...its super lush and kinda ugly so much so that I had to have it...and big surprise--a lot of orange. Maslen just rolled his eyes and said something like it "looks as if it's already been lived on.." No, that is the cool part--super fluffy and random. Not sure if he agreed but now that it's on our floor he kinda loves how comfy it is.

New prints getting stitched up and will be ready for the new POP store that will be on Commercial Street Old Port Portland Maine this coming Wednesday. Please come and check it out! Going to be so fun and a great collection of fine art, funky hand made finds and amazing photography.

Here are a few pics of the newest medium sized prints. The oatmeal cotton cloth has been prewashed so excuse the wrinkles...we will obviously be doing a lot of ironing once these bad boys are getting stitched.

Please let me know if you love any of the new prints and or if you have any thoughts on colors! Always up for some new additions.

NEW PRINTS-

2011-11-06T08:27:00.001-05:00

Okay so it's been way too long since I designed prints for me--my stuff. Been collecting and drawing, collaging, cutting and pasting...and working and reworking the past few weeks. FINALLY. I can't describe how amazing it is to see something that you created/designed and have it printed on fabric. It's the most rewarding part of the process--to actually see it, feel it. (Thanks Mas (husband) for being my amazing rockstar that totally gets how obsessed I am and prints at night, weekends and everything inbetween).

And also working on a new hang tag that is so so over due. I struggled on what part of the story to tell--etc etc but I found some great vintage words from old ads while rummaging here in my studio and fell in love with the typeography..style and passion that the words had. After I found these great words, I kept visualizing this long tag hand screened on muslin--and I think finally I wanted to connect with people about the bark cloth, what is it, where it's woven and why that means so much to me.

So happy to show you my new tag, some new prints and I am seriously so excited to get them in YOUR hands!

Such an amazing few weeks that are hard to sum up but a few high lights is that I will be working with ACORN again for the 2012 WINTER catalog--in what capacity--not sure yet--working on a mod mid century/picasso inspired logo for an amazing shop that will be in FREEPORT, outdoor woven fabric line that will be out this SPRING that is going to be so amazing to be apart of, Portland Maine's ID is about done and working on a million pieces for them to tie in the new brand positioning and logo as well as a more sophisticated modern and clean direction--I will do a new post for them at some point. Really love the new Event Planners Guide that I just finished for them, hmm what else...finishing up the CLOSE BUY CATALOG sales that just closed a week or so ago. We sold a ton of calendars and framed prints to some local schools. This program is amazing and Masey Kaplan, a genius for taking this concept and sprinting with it!

Happy that I am still working with Fresenius Medical Care--and just designed 3 huge binders for them with all the tabs and insert pages for all of them. I love working with them..always something new and different and the medical field is so rewarding because the pieces are helping out people who are either working for them or helping patients live a better life. I think this is my longest standing consistent client--going on 5 years now. I can thank my Aunt Marsha for hooking me up over there.

SO SO excited for the REDESIGN OF AU BAGS website!!! This just launched. Please check it out! Winky Lewis shot all the lifestyle shots--and Nathan Hankla programmed it from me. (met him while I worked with Maine Magazine). Loved this process and really loved how it turned out.

Also, working on fine tuning a licensing contract with Sazaby which operates Afternoon Tea Shops in Japan. I am hoping this really flows and works it self out by the end of the year. So many details and so many things that come into play when you work with a large company from abroad. They had a concept to put my small kiddo prints on some cute cloth bags. I have some images on my Facebook of some prototypes.

But the most amazing thing happened last weekend. Jessica Bruder, blog columnist, The New York Times: Start, just contacted me to interview me for Oprah Magazine. The interview was last Tuesday.

First thing I did was call Ashley O'Brion and thank her since she put together a beautiful press kit for me and sent it to her connections at O Magazine.

I was shaking so much that I could barely dial her number and totally started to cry as I thanked her...Thank you again Ash--I will let you all know how it turns out and seriously pray that all goes well and ends up in the mag!

I just have to say that life is so full of surprises and every turn is such an opportunity to grow and evolve. Very thankful for good friends who push me to do better, be better and believe in my insane dream of someday being able to do my own personal design work full time. Anything in the world is possible and this just reinforces my believe that if you just continue to trudge through and keep your eye on your ultimate goal things will happen...and every turn in the road will lead you to where you need to be.

I am not sure if I am missing something but will close for now...LOVE LOVE the new prints and wanted to attach a few new pics we JUST SCREENED LAST NIGHT! I will post once ready for purchase on my ETSY shop!

Be well, stay true, and push on. e

Happenings October

2011-10-20T01:27:00.001-04:00

Well it's October and life here is a bit nuts as usual. School is in full swing and the leaves are falling. Gearing up for Halloween and basically working my tail off keeping up with orders and freelance. Maslen has been a rock star helping me keep it all together..yesterday, (even though he was sick and should be resting) did up a ton of prints for me and organized my orders to ship out). Amazing happy smile came over my face when I went down stairs to see all the orders neatly in boxes!

I have been super focused and a bit out of my mind since I organized all my new pillow designs. The round pillows are done as far as production issues and ready for the masses. I am in love with them--(I have said this before--but seriously love them). Basically I am that stage where I print everything out on my printer and just stare and look and figure out if the new pillows go with the existing story and take my work into a new direction all at the same time. The first line was a random collection of designs which I loved, and this time, I hope to be a little less frantic and actually plan them to coordinate better. The first line was about getting them out--this time I think it is about coming up with things that speak to me today--which of course will change tomorrow, thus hard to choose but honestly if I open it up and print it and I get excited, I know it is going to be a good one. The others I just save, and rework and redo until I feel done.

I did up logo for a dear friend for her new shop--a funky cool eclectic shop...and found my ASHLEY PINE pillow in STITCH today while searching for cording at Joannes Fabrics. I sent a few pillows to Colorado a while back and excited to see the pillow in the mag! Very nice and a huge thank you to STITCH for including me.

I also did up a ETSY banner/Logo/Seal for a local soap maker that is making her way to ETSY! So below you will find her shop banner..(I love doing these). I will post more about her once she is up and running. She showed me the seal that she uses directly on the soaps and it looked amazing. So much more on this amazing lady and her soaps that make my studio and my hand bag smell lovely!

The next post hopefully will be finally taking all the pics of Ary's little T PARTY and creating a little sample of her amazing day! Everything was perfect and she had a blast and YES tea was poured and smiles were all around. Love throwing parties---I was a little crazed getting ready--I have had a ton of projects / design work with clients and etsy sales etc. that I did not do much planning--just collecting of stuff and a whirlwind cleaning house decorating madness the day and night before. (famous for last minute madness). I wish life was not like that here but seems like I react to what is ahead, day by day. If I operated on any other frequency I am sure with so much going on I would go totally insane. Denial is a good thing:)BUT I am going to try to be better at making a lists and sticking to a weekly plan of attack. The little voice in my head is saying "write it and post it on your wall so you don't forget what is important.". I am on it.

Also a very amazing designer, Laurie Wisbrun, another surface, textile designer contacted me to be in her next how to book:
The Complete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric is a practical and comprehensive handbook that walks readers through the entire fabric design and printing process. (Sounds like I needed this book a year or two ago while Mas and I were researching silk screening--) we could of really used a practical HOW TO book for sure! She asked for a few images so hopefully they will make it in somewhere. Thanks Laurie for FINDING me! I was honored to be contacted and have been a huge fan of her work. Please check her out! Amazing stuff.

I hope to post what the final picks are for the new pillows--Mas was smart and just gave me a little advice since it has been so so long since I printed a new design. He said, "just do a few, you don't have to totally do a whole new line--just add a few that are really great.." So there. I guess I hope to just do that.

Nite nite...e

I LOVE REAL SIMPLE + COASTAL LIVING + BLUEJEAN BALL Yarmouth Style

2011-09-25T10:35:00.004-04:00

okay--this week was lovely...Real Simple Magazine put the hand screened bark cloth print in the Mag under deals and well, we have had a ton of orders and a lot of hits--thank you so so much! WIND is out there in the world in a BIG way thanks to this amazing Mag and amazing April Hardwick (amazing writer who got me in Country Living and now REAL SIMPLE...)

Another amazing super surprise blurp was that a dear friend sent me a text that my print AU's "Mrs. Robinson" Raincoat Cotton Zip SPRINT in LEMON is on Page 66 of OCTOBER in COASTAL LIVING!. What a wonderful little silo pic of this bag that I actually picked out for me personally out of all the Mrs. Robinson bags.

Great for AU--I hope they sell like mad for them! I can't tell you how powerful these little blurps are...such gifts--every single one of them...

Recovering today from ARY Birthday Party Madness--will post that next..it was a perfect raining day for a tea party.

The other thing I wanted to post is a fun poster I was asked to do for a new up and coming fund raiser event presented by the Yarmouth Education Foundation: BLUEJEAN BALL! Music + Food + Dance with Live music from thiswayband!

xo e

Grandma Vivian

2011-09-17T07:13:00.006-04:00

I have been out of my mind busy last two or so weeks--more then normal. Totally behind on all things, but thankful work is sweeping in + the cool days here are telling me that Fall has arrived.

I love to just hunker down and create during the Winter months (let's face it, this girl loves to work on design anything:)---so many cool projects..two new shapes for bags, round pillows that I am seriously in love with and more prints then I could ever print in 10 years. What to do with them all? I wish I had more time to just burn new screens daily so I can just see them instantly on fabric, wood, paper--what ever. Never enough time but so so thankful.

I have been missing my grandmother who moved to Arizona from here in Maine a lot lately and been finding myself sending her flowers randomly when ever I miss her more then I can bare. Her name is Vivian. I don't even know how long she has been gone. I think I blocked it out--I think it is 2 years now. Some how her voice smiling on the other end of the telephone as she tells me all about each individual flower, petal by petal, every delicious detail and color makes me a little less sad.

From the time I was a little girl she has been a beacon of light for me. Strong, nurturing and has these sweet gray blue eyes that melt your heart no matter what the circumstances. She just has this way about her that makes me smile, just miss that.

Because I knew somehow that it would be a long time before I saw her again, I talked her into doing a photoshoot with me and Cliff Kucine. (A dear dear friend who captures people amazingly)...I wanted a few shots of us just being together--no kids, no husbands or any other family member. Selfishly I wanted her all to myself...and I wanted to remember that moment. It was funny, as soon as I heard she was moving, I missed her...I was not ready for her to move, or move on or go anywhere for that matter. She moved here to Maine and was here 5 or so years and I loved it. I would visit often and she and I would sit and drink ice tea on her porch. As time went on I did not visit as often being so busy as we all get, but our time spent together was not wasted. We would chat it up for hours...

As a 30 something woman, I really didn't feel any different holding her hand from the many days as a little girl looking up into her eyes and laughing. You establish a bond between a grandparent..it changes you, fullfills you and makes you whole. Our walks talking would guide me, nurture me, mold me. God how I miss her. I haven't looked at these pics since she left and finally pulled out this glorious CD of images. I made her a book a few holidays back of all the great shots--but not until now have I really looked at them, or studied them, needing to see her eyes, the wrinkles, her soul. I just wanted or needed to look at them.

Pulling them out made me smile, laugh, remember, cry...but they have been good to see. Thank you so much Cliff for taking the time to capture these moments that I so needed to remember today.

I don't feel sad often, I rarely get unhappy...but missing someone is like a windy day where you can't seem to take a breath...where the constant pushing and pulling comes in waves then lingers... soon I will just get on a plane--solo if I have to (total wimp about traveling alone) just be close to her for a weekend to reconnect. Thank God for phones, but I miss her sweet smell of perfume and her laughing eyes by my side. Soon..soon we will drink tea and I will be mesmerized by her strength and beauty, and not while holding a piece of plastic, but holding her hand.

e

Aryana is turning 4!

2011-09-10T08:09:00.001-04:00

Ary Is turning 4. I know. Crazy. So cliche but seriously it has gone so fast--where does the time go?

Her little vision to me is dress up + tea. (her latest obsession is mint tea in the morning?) So her little request for a tea party party made perfect sense to me.

I just finished this little invite for her and hopefully will screen print some little t-shirts for her friends the day of the party. It is always a highlight for the kids to see us mix ink and print. So so fun.

Looking forward to all the new work I am doing right now and seriously obsessing about what to print and on what. A lot of things in the works as far as new licensing opportunities but none are confirms or a done deal at the moment. Seems like they come in waves...and so thankful people are asking for custom designs and graphic design work...keep it coming! These girls need to go to college ! :)

Happy Weekend everyone...
Best, e

Picnic 2011

2011-09-05T10:49:00.001-04:00

Photo By kai paine http://www.yandp.tv/

Left to Right// Olan Boardman from Ktaadn, Eliza Jane Curtis, Jennifer Judd-Mcgee +
myself, Erin Flett + little Breshia out front.

PICNIC – music + arts festival was a great success with over 100 vendors nestled in Lincoln Park down town Portland, Maine. It is always my favorite show due to the amazing variety of cool vintage venders as well as friends old and new that are in this unique world of selling their passion--what ever that may be.

Maslen and I hung our newest creation of curtain panels done up in the STACKED DECO repeat pattern as well as brought VERA our vintage dress form that displayed my new hand screened bark cloth bags---

Breshia + Ary (my sweet girls sitting in the photo above) came by courtesy of Mimi (Maslen's Mum) and stayed for a while and visited our neighbor every other second (Aimsel, dear friend that creates amazing paper journal books that are recycled record albums). It turned out to be a beautiful perfect day before IRENE came through...we all were in homemade denial bliss...

A call out to some amazing designers that I was among...Eliza Jane Curtis, Olan Boardman from Ktaadn, and lovely Jennifer judd-mcgee.

I took all but the amazing collage that was taken from kai paine lovely blog: YOUNG & PRETTY. Enjoy. e

MUSHROOMS (Images from our woods in back of our home)

2011-09-05T08:53:00.003-04:00

Just a few of the million images I have taken out on our many walks in the woods lately. I have had ample time with little Ary since B is back in school. Our ritual is to go on our "mommie day" walks and find cool anythings that we find around our home. We have 4 acres of woods behind our home that we explore, walk around and of course, lately climb in since Ary and B both have discovered climbing trees...which is a thrilling and often for me terrifying event. I love seeing them in the trees but, yes..afraid that they will fall and break something. But with both of them, I am finding that they do fall...but bounce up and do it all over again. No broken bones to date. (A great metaphor for life for me really).

But on our most recent walks I have discovered the mushroom. I am so overwhelmed by the simple beauty of these little specs of color in the mist of all the dead leaves and twigs. The ground floor of the woods are deep with many many layers of leaves and branches and due to the large amounts of rain recently..these little gems are popping up everywhere. They force themselves up from the sea of layers...which always inspires me due to all the textures, color and sometimes lack of color. The ridges and detail of every facet of these mushrooms are amazing. My family and Mas (husband) and most likely my kids at this point are over them, or over me obsessing over them...but I find them to be a amazing piece of soft sculpture in this very rough and most of the time hard and rough elements here in our Maine forest. I don't always share photos of my finds around here but I could not resist sharing these little magic moments.

The prints that I am inspired to create from these images are twig like, sprigs, and round mounds of color and shapes. Doesn't the yellow just make you happy? In all the mist of browns, and greens...the yellow is a welcome hello to me. They scream...come on in and take a look around. And that is what we did--Ary + me. xo e

MORE YARDAGE // Bedroom Wall Prints (My Peonies)

2011-08-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

The latest on the yardage. Well, after a few runs to LOWES and a pick up on some more muslin...as well as burning a completely new screen...(we all decided to not invert this pattern and run with it in a traditional "brick" repeat)...and I am so thrilled to report that I did not suck and I was able to seamlessly do the "handoff" and we kicked some serious butt and did 12+ yards in no time at all--with 12 or so more to go I am so excited and seriously thinking after all the prep, the actual printing is a breeze. (serious prep work..serious I say....) But Maslen being the math guru...I let him figure out all that stuff and I focused on the new prints I am putting up in our bedroom. They turned out awesome....

But I have to say what has made things easier--minus a screen that actually repeated easily (ha ha) Maslen made us a bunch of dowel rods that are strategically placed so we can hoist up the fabric once completed so we can do multiple rounds of printing and not having any down drying time in the second pass...so that has saved us a ton of time and made things a lot more seamless.

We are still in the mist of the last 6-12 yards but I thought I would post since I had some great new shots of the pattern inverted and the the way the fabric hangs while drying.

The prints I have been dreaming up has been a fun process. I took a ton of pics from my garden of all my Peonies. I am so in love with these flowers and managed to grow mine to new heights this Summer and the blooms were fantastic. I shot a ton of them, and have created some repeats patterns as well as these one ups of some of the elements I loved. I wanted some simple yellow prints in my bedroom. I am starting to love yellow and orange together--go figure--(two bright cheery colors) off set by some white and gray---I found some super old frames at goodwill that I have had stashed for ever and I know I should of just left them, but I have so much las vegas gold stuff I wanted the prints to go over my bed and not have more gold..so I spray painted them with a super glossy finish in a yellow---too insane, so repainted them in a natural off white to blend with my vintage french provincial set. The only thing I left was a sweet little gold metallic lip around the inside. I felt that might be just a hair of something to not look too manufactured. (if you check out some pics way back on here I have some shots of my bedroom).

So that is it so far..stitchers on call right now do turn the yardage into sheer curtains on Monday and ready to put up by Wednesday or Thursday. I should have a few final round pillows made up as well that I am seriously so in love with--(finally getting to the point where I love the construction). Thanks Molly!

More drama yet to unfold I am sure..but other then cleaning my house like usual and digging through my studio and making sure it is not too insane to shoot, I am ready for Country Living and Olga Naiman the amazing stylist and Tara Donne the insanely amazing photographer to come through and do it up---what is nice is that I can step back and watch two amazing designers do their thing...looking forward.

PS. Stay tooned for new much need and anticipated hand tags that we will screen on muslin or bark cloth...and of course PICNIC PORTLAND is coming up--so I hope to a lot of you stop by and say hello! xo e

YARDAGE

2011-08-07T08:40:00.001-04:00

Okay this is the deal. Country Living is coming in a few weeks and they asked if I would hand screen some custom curtains to soften my windows in my living room. Mas and I already purchased our large screen and it was here--burned and ready to go. We just had been looking at it. Truthfully we were a little intimidated going from 1/3 the size screen for pillows to this monster screen...

So yesterday we printed for the first time our large screen---roughly 55" x 30". We should of waited until the kiddos were MIA but we had them sit and watch---and asked them not to ask or want anything for a few moments while we work it out---ha ha. That worked for a while but Ary wanted to hold the hamster and B wanted ice cream mid pull of the last few rounds...but..all I have to say about this experience is that it just reinforces my love of silk screening and my obsession for doing this-

Okay so the repeat was not perfect. After we did our first 6 yards we did not love the way it was lining up. But what we discovered is that our screens and table worked great. We printed on muslin, (super cheap and lovely). My tags are printed on this super soft fabric and to just soften a room I thought this natural cloth would be nice? My normal self wanted to print in yellow or orange but wanting to work on producing a natural linen type color I opted to mix up a ton of this natural brown/gray color.

First pull for me was a disaster...(maslen was pretty perfect like usual)...second, third, forth--OKAY by the forth pull I had it down. Because of the size of the table Mas hands off the squeegee to me and I take it the rest of the table width. It's fun, stressful and addictive. (the upper body strength I need is just one of the few new reasons I am going back to the gym!)

After 6 yards which took us no time at all (minus some drying time inbetween) it was pretty painless...with all the measuring from Mas on where to lay the screen down each time...but we discovered the burned screen was off a tad and the print did not line up the way it did on my computer..(sigh). So this time Mas sat in front of my computer with me for a few hours trying to figure out a better repeat that is more of a drop repeat--and also thinking the solid background with this DECO print dropping to the ground is really not going to work with this design. So we are working that out still. Going to reburn this week. Have to have the curtains up and done in less then two weeks so we better get moving!

But because I can't imagine tossing this fabric--I am going to wash it and make some scarves or something? I washed and dried it and it is so so beautiful and because it is chopped you don't notice the fact that the pattern is not perfectly lined up. But honestly I have to laugh because nothing I do is perfect. So why should my yardage? Mas is a math guy..things line up in his world, things are in order. Okay so this is not the perfect combo in some marriages but in ours--it works. He balances my randomness. I have to say that I did get all emotional after we were done. I looked up at him and said, "this is it mas, this is it, this is our future--" In all honesty I felt a surge of this most amazing happiness--I have never wanted anything more. This need to create is just getting bigger--something that has taken my hand and creating work for me. It is coming from somewhere I can't describe and I am so so in love with it. Mas just smiled and looked over the table and smiled. (man of few words). But his eyes lit up and I knew...this just the start of something freaking amazing. And so happy I get to share with this man. xo e

Summer Reflections // Magazines SPRING SUMMER 2011

2011-07-31T07:53:00.003-04:00

Hello all, I can't believe tomorrow is going to be AUGUST. Summer here at the Flett house has been one of the best to date. With much work and play going around, I could not be happier..and I have tan lines to prove it.

Mas, and the girls and I have been frequent beach bums as well as discovering a lake/park close to our house that is amazing. (Dundee Park). Clean and small, surrounded by the Maine Pine trees. Totally in love with this place. The girls are learning to swim finally among doing some private lessons at St. Joes College near by. B is 7 now and Ary is going to be turning 4 next month. Been holding them close, watching tons of movies and really trying not to be so obsessed with work and focus on the home front. Finding that balance of my design work and my little lovies is and always will be a challenge. BUT a challenge that is so necessary and natural for me. I need both..and pretty excited that I get to continue my textile work that has been flowing as well as the graphic design gigs I have been working on...

The gardens look great minus a few beetle invasions, I let the lavender go too long this year and the beds are looking kinda sad but Maslen always reminds me that they all go through cycles and I should let go of them always looking perfect. He always rolls his eyes so hard when I start complaining about a plant that looks as if it needs a shock of vitamins or something...I know he thinks I am out of my mind and just keeps walking. Happy that he understands that I am a total nut case in the garden (or in general ha ha) and let's me be as neurotic as I want to be. Thank God for that, and so thankful to have him.

I will never forget my first Summer here when I went around my acre of gardens and started freaking out over all the beetles that seemed to rise out of the ground all at the same time..but since we moved here to Gorham, the beetles are not so bad. Makes me laugh out loud just thinking about it. I went around trying to catch them all.

So today is our first day Mas + I are going to use our new large screen (54x30) for my newest project here. I am in need of some sheer curtains thus going to silk screen on muslin today. I hope I can manage the upper body strength to work it out with the Mas man. Which reminds me I need to get back into some form of work out madness.

So many things in the works these days and taking a deep breath...my stitchers and I are working up a cute little bag, as well as finishing the prototypes of my new rounds pillows. I can't tell you how obsessed I am with these..and so excited to start producing 2 color designs for these little bags that will translate nicely into T towels maybe or more pillows--or both...

I found some things that I love that I will print on very soon---and working on getting some up cycled things to print on---just cause I had this random idea and just connected with a manufacturer that will hook me up with some used items that might just be the coolest erin flett thing to date? I am still completely a pillow lady--which will be my focus, but these other things are just for fun and see where they take me.

Hoping the deal in Japan comes through (more on this later)... and the textile mill here in the states moves on the 5-10 prints that should be coming out in the SPRING/SUMMER of next year. The fabric will be for the outdoors and it is woven which is seriously the most beautiful fabric I have seen. It will be sold only to the trade but I will get to show you as soon as I can. Such a great story here, but basically the manufacturer of my bark cloth lined me up with this other mill that makes amazing fabric for the trade for only the outdoor market. (Polo just picked up a huge line from these guys). So you get the idea. A small company doing big things which is amazing. And since everything is woven here in the US..I just believe in what these folks are doing. The deal would be a line of erin flett prints that will have my name attached to them to sell to the trade. Think bold and graphic with lots of color. (big surprise:)

The kiddos are with Mimi today, and thus, have time to sit this am, drink some coffee over looking my garden and just reflect. Life is amazing and seems like if you don't take TIME by the hand, make a list, things slip on by. I am determined today, and tomorrow to continue my quest for greatness, to grow--and to be the best mother I can be. I realized this past few weeks that being a mother is to live as an example more then anything I could ever say. I look deeply into little eyes and say things I hope the girls will remember, but honestly, when I feel out of my mind, I know they are watching. This keeps me grounded. I want them to know, see and feel that life is about these little ups and downs and everything in-between...and how we must just roll with it all. I say this over and over but it is the journey, not the end result of this wonderfulness.

Below are a few Mags I have been in over the course of the Summer so far. September Better Homes & Gardens will have a erin pillow or two and of course Country Living at some point--shooting here in a few weeks--(delay last month has lead it to be this month in August). I also hope the STITCH will have a ASHLEY PINE pillow or two for a holiday feature? Sent a few to them a while back. We'll see.

Lots of love, e

PS. A few mags that have featured my work.

Working.

2011-07-09T06:52:00.000-04:00

Last few weeks have all been about working...getting a lot done, finishing up projects and recharging. Time at the lake/ocean with the girls...cleaning out clutter...getting ready for round 2-3 or what ever round I am on. I find that I do this after a series of projects and madness, gives me time to reflect, organize and regroup.

Finally picked up first yardage screen last night, 20 yards will be printed, no matter how imperfect or nutty it gets, we are doing it. COUNTRY LIVING MAGAZINE postponed the shoot till August. Blessing really. Since I had a deadline before the shoot and now another on Monday which would have been the day after. So that is a good thing. AND they wanted curtains added to my living room. Something I have thought a lot about actually but nice to get a kick in the rear and actually follow through with it. So I will keep you all posted. Will be an amazing experience. I really love the photographer TARA DONNE and stylist, OLGA NAIMAN..work about sums it up. (click links-amazing).

Two great surface design projects coming up--lots of drawing in my future. Very excited about a Japanese company wanting 5 prints for some accessories for a Winter launch as well as a US company that manufacturers outdoor fabric for the trade has asked for some help with a new line they want to produce for a more modern and eclectic customer. Both sell to high end demographics and believe in great design. So very excited about these two lovely opportunities. I can't tell you how I miss drawing and working like this. I have been so focused on branding for others as well as the ACORN Catalog which turned out great....

ACORN went to press this past week and between the amazing photoshoot and working with an amazing group of individuals at ACORN, Sonya Purington / Christine Berube and amazing stylist NANCY NORTON. You can check out some of the creative below.

I am also working on some logo and design work for a new soap business that I believe will be mostly on etsy. I love doing type and embellishments--wild drawn florals etc. Really loving where those are going...

AU and I have been teaming up on a different level these days. We have partnered up and I took over the branding/promotion side of things as well as redesigning website. WINKY LEWIS shot some amazing lifestyle shots and will be featured online and on all promotional material. I love her.

AND as we speak I am currently buttoning up comps for the rebranding project for PORTLAND, MAINE. A new direction for the city to promote the urban soulfulness that PORTLAND has to offer. I also read recently from a cool blog that described it as OLD WORLD CHARM..that has played a roll in my designs. A research company did a ton of back end research work and gave us a lot of info and working through all that. This one is challenging since it will be so public--but also because it is going to brand my city but also set the tone for a million pieces that follow. I was awarded this year long contract and so very thankful.

So that is all in a nut shell. Oh and of course working on new pillow designs, a few bag designs and working on getting a ton of my own new prints on my new screens so I can roll them out this FALL. I woke up the other morning thinking about a way to get a bag out of the pillow prints. SO I have been sketching out someway to make a cool bag out these 20x20 prints. So yes they will be square, (have another shape coming as well that takes off from a found vintage bag I have fallen madly in love with)..I been wanting to do a few bags since I started since I am bag obsessed. But just applied for a trade mark for my name "erin" on bags and they are saying I need them in the market place to move forward. So yes, stitchers will be getting them done very soon to get that rolling and yes, get me out my head once again and in production!

Girls are going to camp this Summer--learning to swim and doing all those Maine camp activities and little Ary is going to ROOTS a few times a week getting back to her little friends which she has missed. They are visiting Mimi today so focusing on getting a ton done. What would I do with out family? Between both our parents we would be lost.

Thank you so much for caring, sharing your feedback, pillow pics and just being apart of this little life. e

New Happenings // New Work

2011-06-19T16:25:00.000-04:00

Looking forward to Wednesday, ACORN photoshoot. I will be recreating my visual comp at this amazing oceanfront location here in Maine. "LIVE IT" is the positioning statement and the concept for the entire catalog. I can't wait to show you the layered details, surface patterns (Acorn's not mine:) and amazing photography + lots of color that has gone into this SPRING 2012 catalog. Once finished I want to post about the amazing stylist, and creative team that has been so incredible to work with!

The bark cloth source is back on track--even with higher minimums and all that, very thankful that I will be buying from the actual weaver here in the US. A family owned company for generations. Now looking into a natural darker ground to print on for FALL WINTER. Love the natural off white, but would love to over a more universal color combinations for those more neutral loving customers that still value a cool graphic pop. Plus I am just wanting to print on something other then natural off white for a change. Should be fun--

I have been also playing with a new hand screened tag that will now be on all my work. I have been meaning to get on this for a year but since we have one stitch on every pillow (back flap) wanted to make sure the hang tag that I designed told a good story--and made a impact...just didn't know what I really wanted until now. I have also been dreaming up a new website design. I hope to get on top of that and launch FALL/WINTER 2011/2012. I would like it to be more about my work and my process, with great photography and maybe a blurp about myself that I haven't done before. My portfolio is very outdated online at the moment and want to be able to upload new work as I finish easily and have a more refined looking blog set up.

Country Living will be shooting her in July/August...they have not given me an exact date but been working on new projects and dreaming up news ones. Hopefully we can button it all up before they come. But honestly, it is just an amazing crazy thing that they are coming to Gorham, Maine. They want to shoot our home before / after style + a little write up of my textile design work. My friend PR chick, Hannah Gregory will be here shooting the whole thing--ha ha. Shooting what they are shooting and just be here to capture the day. Should be fun to see how they transform the place into something that is truly CL worthy. (styling and photography is an amazing thing).

Katie Brown's shoot went well and my pillows will be in Better Homes & Gardens in September in a outdoor spread I hope. Sounds like from the personal assistant that dropped off all the pillows I sent (all 27 of them) mentioned the outdoor seating / lounge area was the Erin Flett pillow focus. So we will see what actual makes the cut. Very excited. AND Katie Brown herself picked out a MR. NUT + COFFEE RINGS for herself and Stacy, the stylist took home ARIA.

I had a few great calls this week--one from a outdoor fabric manufacturer, this time from the US...possible collaboration in our future...a few business calls for some cool botanical soap packaging---and gearing up to start the Portland Maine rebranding process. And also a lead with a Japanese company that produces all sorts of cool modern projects might be purchasing some new prints.

A lot of fun things in the works and just really trying to focus on some new prints for my pillow line...still working on yardage. Burning world...Conceptually my focus on the new line will be focused on organic natural shapes and patterns, smaller scale repeats and more modern approach in aesthetic. The round pillow graphic is more in line with the vision I have. Almost a collage of elements with a modern edge. Inspired by mid century modern elements but with a hand drawn aesthetic along with other unexpected organic / collaged elements.

So the images you see are shots taken from SOWA OPEN MARKET #2, new ROUND pillows and some packaging labels I did for Paula Costin, for her yummy cookie tins. Enjoy. e

all of it will come---sooner or later

2011-06-11T08:56:00.003-04:00

I woke up thinking as I often do...and felt the need to share the past week.

Yesterday someone hit my Honda Pilot while parked in the old port--long story is that Mas and I ended up in the PD for more then an hour making a police report since an amazing guy left me a note of every detail of who hit me--make, plate number etc. I felt completely overwhelmed at this man's kindness. Yes my right side of my pilot is creamed---but here was this guy who took the time to help me. Amazing. But because I was at the PD a good friend invited Mas and I out for a drink and well, ironically ended up at Havana South. We ended up seeing some friends and since a design conference that was happening in town (which I am sick I didn't know about or if I did, some how got missed in my email box) ended up sitting down over drinks with the Editor In Chief at PRINT magazine. Okay, so this guy is amazing. After getting PRINT mag since I was a graduate from Kansas University ...it was surreal. Amazing. I showed him my work and talked about my journey a bit..and really found his own personal story so inspiring. Needless to say a terrible hit and run accident that day, led me to this amazing evening with a design icon. (thank you Mandy).

But I woke up this morning thinking about where things are going for me, all the great phone calls that seem to happen every week--opportunities coming my way that completely take my breath away. With out getting totally personal so many emotional moments this week--understanding my work process, how to make things better, smoother...being a good mom, mindful..being a good friend. Taking my designs to a new level, doing something that is me, but me NOW and not a year ago---taking that all in--figuring out where this is going...my surface design--graphic work, it hit me this morning like a mack truck. I feel so strongly that you get amazing opportunities in life when you basically strip things totally away...you show people who you are, not afraid to be wrong, or put something out there that may not be beautiful--because it's just where you are at personally--not the end result- Just a piece of it--part of the process...it is when you show people your truth-say I want this, this is what I am doing and this is how hard I am trying to work it out--survive...thrive and learn. Thinking out loud I came to the conclusion that people want ultimately to see people succeed. I think the public has so much positive power -and it's amazing when you put yourself out there. So I guess what I am saying, when you are genuine, no strings...dig deep and just let go--the universe takes your hand and lets what you envision happen. People really want to see people live a dream, just be happy. Face it, we want to be happy--all of us and love to see others happy--it's that spark from life and others--that keeps me getting up excited, it's B's and Ary's eyes when they look at me--all of it. But when people listen and really hear you...it's perfect. When I was sitting across from Aaron Kenedi, Editor In Chief, this hit me...

So I am understanding the way of the world, universe a little more each day---so the other insane thing that happened this week--is that FULL SWING (the supplier of my bark cloth) is no longer selling it due to the increase cost of cotton and the high minimums. I totally freaked out knowing that this cloth that I have been so emotional tied to may not be available to me. (If you don't know the story about the cloth for me is that my mom has collected it my whole life--and it was a personal great find at yard sales and antique thrift shops.) I have the greatest memories collecting this cloth with my mom my entire growing up. This cloth is ONLY available through this one mill as far as I know. After some back and forth he sent me the manufacture of the cloth since he could not supply it. The owner of the mill, the weaver of this amazing bark cloth said that in over 27 years no one has ever just given that info out. Just doesn't happen. I feel so blessed that Fred at FULL SWING felt I should have it, that I needed it (which I did desperately) but also, that he believed in what I am doing and has now given me the info to keep going.

This all boils down to how people rally around you and push you even if sometimes you fall or feel like what ever it is--will not happen. That authentic self plays this roll that if you are truly who you are--and ask nothing more then just to be heard--absorbed-things work out. Seems so easy..so obvious. But I have been around people in my life that are negative or just make bad decisions but decisions based out of fear or sadness or what ever. But I wish I could bottle up this passion sometimes and give it away and tell people that is it...that is all you need, the rest just follows.

I am no where in my career where I can say I am content, or even close to being heard truly as a designer. I feel this is the start of it all. And since I have great momentum this past year on so many fronts..it's confirmation in my soul that I am on the right path to just be able to do what I love--which is all anyone wants right?

This post has no pretty pics or work---just me. And I am so not alone in my quest for greatness. It's just been an amazing week and I wanted to thank each new opportunity, gift and good deed that has come my way and hope I can return each and every blessing.

I have been getting a ton of emails from Seniors in college just starting out in the design world and this is for them--and for anyone that may feel they are not on the right path..or just figuring it out. I have a ton to learn about everything..but I know in my heart that this lesson of letting go and knowing that if I envision it, believe it--all of it will come---sooner or later. e

IDSVA-

2011-05-29T09:14:00.001-04:00

Happy long weekend...I just finished up a sweet project that was so amazing to be apart of. IDSVA offers a low-residency PhD program in philosophy and art theory to visual artists,

architects, curators, and creative scholars. Instruction includes preeminent world-wide visiting faculty, residencies in Tuscany, the Venice Biennale, Paris, and New York City, plus year-round distance-learning. George Smith, president, started this amazing program. Here is a quote from the website.

"I have collaborated with art practitioners and scholars from around the world to design a PhD program for artists---and by artists I mean those who approach their work as a creative practice, as curators, architects, creative scholars, or art practitioners in the more traditional sense. I believe we have created the first PhD program of its kind in the United States. It combines rigorous philosophical study with on-site intensives. The latter might be described as critical interventions that bring the artist-philosopher into immediate contact with the life-world of contemporary art, whether it be participants in the Venice Biennale or the critics, curators, gallery directors and artists who populate the New York art scene." -George Smith

After a few conference calls with Rhonda Birkbeck (amazing designer // interior designer) who referred me to Amanda Holland (marketing genius) and after I heard 2 seconds about the program..which I already knew a little about from doing the JULY 2010 Feature spread in Maine Magazine. We quickly all became immersed in all the ideas we could run with knowing it was going to be an insane creative evening celebration! Only requirement was that it had to be different, something that stood out--something bold.

The concept we came up with for the event was to have a blow out, urban party on a roof top of a parking garage in the Old Port down town Portland, Maine. Think cement, grit, graffiti, hot DJ music, sweet lounge...it's all underway and the starting point was suppose to be a kick ass invite. So Rhonda and Mandy + I spoke various times on the phone throwing ideas around and came across some pop artist work--as well as some classic work of Lichtenstein + Warhol. These visuals became the backbone of the look and feel we were going for.

I love silk screening anything these days so the opportunity to screen a sweet invite was exactly what I was concepting. The program is based in a lot of amazing cities all over the world so the crew at IDSVA wanted me to incorporate the skyline of iconic architecture buildings that really screamed each city. IDSVA’s three-year course of study blends distance learning with intensive residencies at Spannocchia Castle in Tuscany, the Venice Biennale, Paris, New York City, and Providence, Rhode Island. So while being totally graphic and bold / urban I combined all these iconic cities into one collage that focused on the tops of a few buildings.

I wanted the paper stock to be 100% recycled, gray to match the endless amount of cement and be a tad gritty. And I wanted it to be super THICK so I could screen on it with out it rolling up. AND I really wanted it to be a over sized POSTER...so I wanted something to be different and city like. Maslen + I silk screen my tags and other things on chip board and thought of this but wanted it to be more gray then brown--so we looked all over for GRAY CHIPBOARD.

After searching all over for GRAY CHIP BOARD Mandy found it and bought it up (super cheap + great) and we had it cut down from Dunstan Press--my letterpress guru. George / Rhonda / Mandy asked for a little of Erin Flett here and there so I added a few decorative elements but also wanted it to not get too busy or over designed. So this is what it ended up like. We loved the black but since I did the spread in Maine Mag in a hot pink--that was something I thought we could continue---so please enjoy the pics! First line up MAINE MAG SPREAD--COLOR / and design take off---then the invite drying in our studio print shop. ENJOY. e

B TURNS 7!

2011-05-25T09:30:00.003-04:00

Hello.

Breshia, my oldest, just turned 7. We had a BACKYARD CAMPING PARTY...and yes, I was not quite prepared for 8+ girls for a over night--but I survived and well, I have to say, I had the best time. Between the s'mores, Mas's silk screening demo silkscreening t's, running around blowing bubbles + the midnight stories that seemed to last all night--(all stories were about creepy old ladies and cats and dogs). The girls held the flashlight under their faces and each told at least 2 stories each. After the second round I was exhausted but my heart smiled because I was feeling like we were making some great memories. Ary who is now 3 almost 4 was in the mist of it all and she beamed all night--B was in her element and I can honestly say I didn't realize she had such a funny personality with her little friends--a little comedian/actress. She is so down to earth and quiet really but in this element she was hilarious and witty--all qualities I see time to time but this was a entirely different Breshia--a little girl drama here and there but for the most part a HUGE success. I will tell you, I really felt as if I was watching myself, through her. So funny as a mother how you see yourself and look on in amasement. I KNOW all too well that these moments where I can be among her friends will pass, and I will have to be that mom that asks a million questions obsessively. But for now I totally enjoyed playing, dancing and just being a apart of this little world. ENJOY the pics. PS. I dug out a huge patio this SPRING and filled with granite crushed rocks that are easy on bare feet and found more granite pavers recycled from the streets of OLD PORT, DOWNTOWN PORTLAND, MAINE. The day of the party, that morning actually I found a TEAK SET on craigslist that was marked down and yes, Mas and I emailed, called and stalked the lady who had it for sale and brought it home. It was amazing timing and we totally enjoyed it all night. I will post before and after shots soon. Loved the entire process. Evenings are now spent in our new chairs watching the kids after al fresco style... e

ROM123- SO MANY THANKS! e

2011-05-18T06:59:00.002-04:00

I am so so excited. Yesterday in my mailbox I received the greatest package! rom 123 sent me two sample mags of my little blurp! DAISY THORN ORANGE FRAMED PRINT + BUNNY BOO KIDDO PILLOW made the cut and is in MAY 2011 // page 15!

I am a HUGE fan of this Norwegian interior magazine. Thank you ETSY for putting my name out there for this amazing little blurp. SO so excited! e

http://www.etsy.com/listing/55556428/bunny-boo-kiddo-10-teal-hand-screened

Number 7 is here!

2011-05-12T07:06:00.000-04:00

Well it's that time of year again and B's birthday is coming right up!

We love coming up with new ideas for parties and this year we are doing BACKYARD CAMPING. We have a giant tent-smores and all night to have fun and eat as many marshmallows as possible!

I will post images from the campfire next week--so excited for this one!

(Going to be a intimate gathering of a few girls from B's class--no boys allowed:)

ENJOY. e

OUR FIRST SOWA OPEN MARKET in BOSTON!

2011-05-09T06:07:00.000-04:00

APRIL SHOWERS FINALLY

2011-04-24T09:07:00.003-04:00

I wanted to start Thank you LOTUS BLEU Home Decor & Interior Design for your amazing first order--”Erin” pillows going to San Francisco! Thanks Ben Ray, (West Coast Rep) for this amazing HUGE order! Mas and I are so excited! VERY excited to get the line in San Francisco, California! Please check them out. I have been obsessing over this shop. They have everything I have ever swooned over and more that I have just discovered. So please, if you are in the area and love loads of color and style--stop by, buy a pillow and support a gal that whole heartedly loves to design things that speak directly to your soul and make your home more alive.

Another fantastic shop, this one on this side of the US map, HOME CHIC, A Fresh; Hip Home Decor shop to funkify your home with beautiful, unusual and functional pieces. Located on Chautauqua Lake, in Mayville, NY. My new New England rep, the very sweet and amazing Bonnie Woods our of Duxbury MA, just sold a great first order to NANTUCKET LOOMS which was established in 1968 as a weaving studio producing high-quality textile fabrics. Until it became a private enterprise, the looms were under the direction of the Nantucket Historical Trust and fabrics created there were used for the renovation of the historic Jared Coffin House. Co. Now it is an amazing retail shop that is full of local artists and has amazing interior design services.

Oh My! I am FREAKING OUT OVER THESE PICS that just came in. Nathalie Weston, (amazing interior designer in Hong Kong) just sent me some final images of the little girls room she designed for the daughter of shop owner: SIDEWALK in Gough Street in Soho, Hong Kong. She contacted me to do this 20" Hot Pink BUNNY BOO! Which I of course fell in love with! (the girls fought over the first few so we printed and made up a few more for them!) Nathalie is super amazing and great to work with AND has exceptional taste and style and recently featured in ELLE DECOR HONG KONG. A few pics of her home. Scroll down to see the ELLE Cover and the following images of are her amazing home. She mentioned that this space below will also be in ELLE DECOR and so that would be insane--so I hope to post those at some point in the near future.

New England Home as well as Fresh Style Magazine have contacted me. New England Home just featured me this past Friday on Friday Favorites 4/22/2011 and also in the magazine come out this Summer.

Fresh Style Magazine interviewed me for a up and coming blurp. I gave them a ton of pillows and they shot them and not sure what they will use for what but hope they send me spreads of the completed magazine to show you! The design concept behind this brand new mag is to feature new and up and coming designers--a lot of it hand made--really apart of this ETSY movement we are seeing. It's amazing how many etsy web links you see in magazines and shopping design blogs that all stalk etsy designers and feature all the cool and new things people are dreaming up. This alone is exciting for all of us just starting out trying to get our things out into the world so people all over can enjoy them. I thank ETSY so much for letting it be easy for all of us to do amazing things. I hope this new movement will keep more jobs and wares here in the US. We'll see.

The last set of images is Mas (amazing beautiful husband) AKA-silk screener-printer--and all around manager of all things that I tend to not be good at ha ha. Printing a series of prints for LOTUS among some others. New colors are Robins Egg Blue in the Daisy Thorn print as well as expanding the ASHLEY PINE into my famous funky green and brown. (Mustard Pea/Black Coffee). And I am thinking of only doing BUNNY BOO in Hot Pink instead of the light pink but will do both until my inventory is done. I love the GIGI the KITTEN in light pink...seems to be a great combination with the rest of the little critters. And you also see the famous MR. NUT in Orange..which of course I love, (orange is my all time favorite color).

It seems as if Spring has finally hit Maine. The snow is gone and rain has set in. Here at the Flett house we are digging in the dirt a little or maybe I should say a lot..I am working on a crushed granite patio edged with recycled granite pavers from the streets of the OLD PORT here in Portland, Maine. They are like bricks only bigger and super cool. I have managed to collect a 4-5 tons in the past few years lining every inch of my perennial beds out front. But I was missing a space to hang out while the kids played--and having a huge plot of grass to play with I decided we could do a little less mowing--so I am in the process of digging out the grass and creating the shape of the patio. I will post before and after shots when completed which I pray will be this week. My grandmother gave me a sweet iron table with two little chairs that will be perfect. They sit out front now--just begging to be put somewhere cool. I want to tackle the 4 acres behind us too--ha ha but I will leave that to the big boys with chain saws. (Just a little cutting here and there so we can actually see the paths better would be amazing..)

I am about to start working with ACORN, designing the SPRING 2012 Catalog as well as art directing some great new photoshoots..so I will post those as they happen. Should be so fun and I couldn't be more happier working with such an amazing company. I am finishing up the prints for SAVANNAH TAILS

I have also been working on a round pillow sample--so excited about it as well as simplifying the line and mixing it up a bit in the FALL. Not sure where all this will take me but I am excited to start designing again for my own pillows. Mas and I have our first large screen and continuing to practice doing yardage. I am challenged by the cost of the ground fabric and how much I need to do some things that I feel would be super cool. What you ask? Shower curtains for starters, duvets, hmmm. A bark cloth duvet would be the ultimate lux set up I think. But I will start reupholstering all these antique chairs I have. I have a new one to pick up at the goodwill that is a gem in the rough that I am sure Mas will roll his eyes at--kinda rough but it's shape is spectacular. Receiving a few inquiries via ETSY and some local interior designers..so I know this avenue will be something I will really focus on in the coming year.

The girls are amazing and growing like weeds. We had a recent photoshoot with WINKY LEWIS. She is super lovely and if you ever have a chance to work with her, please go for it! She captured the girls in such a light that makes my heart sing. I will post those soon..but I wanted to give DESIGN*SPONGE first peek since they asked to feature me in the SNEAK PEAK some Monday in the near future. I am a HUGE HUGE FAN and of course said YES--PLEASE PLEASE! Felt a tad of anxiety since our home is modest--and of course we all feel like our own stuff is cool or speaks to us or to others about who we are--but always interesting when someone looks at your space to see if it makes some visual cut--which to me was a little painful waiting..but Winky did it up and really captured the best little nooks and places in our house that I feel really tell our story here in Maine. I think that is what a home is, everyone's little story--and how we live with our things we collect over the years tells something about us that is unique, sweet and wonderful. I love junk as you know, so cutting through that and editing down to the bare minimum has always been a challenge for me. But with out all this STUFF and things and memories and thoughts and life...my work would be mindless, heartless and mean nothing--so in theory, all of this and my work is a reflection of my heart and how I live-- or how we live as a family. Anyway, Winky was devine. And the images speak for themselves.

I will close for now, sorry for the gush. I have not written in a while and with so much happening day to day, nice to reflect for a moment and really get a handle on what has happened in the last few weeks and what is happening now. Having a family and doing freelance design work, textile work...pillows...all of it...gets a little nuts around here to say the least but like I always say to Maslen..I wouldn't have it any other way and I think the girls thrive on all of the "doing" around here--"or what B says--"doing what we love"--

Happy Easter Everyone. xo e

NEW WORK / HAPPENINGS!

2011-03-27T08:42:00.003-04:00

I have been working madly at some new prints for SAVANNAH TAILS. After working on the Chinese Outdoor textile prints a few weeks ago, it was the first time I really focused on drawing. So nice to get into this mode. I work a lot with graphic design clients so I had a nice little break. It seems like the perfect storm of graphic clients and surface design clients. Both some how balance me out and make me very happy.

I was also contacted this week by ETSY Press Request - rom123 (Norway) Trender i 2011 - Etnisk chic og dyrisk natur - Rom123 - klikk.no I hope they end up using the images I sent them. They loved the Daisy Thorn pillow + the Bunny Boo pillow. They also like the framed prints...The designer told me she would be sending me a magazine so that will be super wonderful! Love love this mag--so stay tooned for that!

I have hired a few reps finally for the textile line. I have been holding out but I feel it's time since I am on the phone so much--(which I love) and looking to find the perfect shop to have the pillows. A great personal quest. But because I am only one person I have to realize that in order to get my work out there, I may need help ha ha. I am a bit of a control freak and love to connect with shop owners, interior designers--anyone who really gets design and of course anyone who is drawn to textural bliss of bark cloth and funky graphics.

RECENT VINTAGE FIND: I also found a vintage round + square pillow that must of gone on some mid century little number. I obviously fell in love so I am having my stitcher comp one up for me. I have this round illustration that is similar to my square illustration that will be a perfect background to some funky bold pillows that are small and sweet--that will balance the line out I think--I want to have a smaller, more economical mod pillow but with all the extra detailing of the cording and such, they seem to be a bit time consuming. BUT I am in love with the shape and will show you what I come up with.

I am also been stalling on the yardage for the moment but will hop back on the Stacked Deco print for Carol Bass. The custom screens that are HUGE are still not here. They will be 62"x 32". I am so so excited to get going on this first print-- Alfred's Upholstery & Lamp; Company - Custom built furniture and upholstering is designing the chair that will be featured in this new office space here in Maine...I will have more details on the event. I love that this will be my first upholstery piece that will be done in my fabric with the bark cloth. I am also hooking up eventually with CHAIRLOOM in New York. Molly is amazing and hopefully as soon as I am done with some serious yardage she will be putting it on something perfect that she finds..(she puts amazing hand screened fabrics on vintage pieces that she finds all over!).

A nice shout out to one sydney road - Home A nice SPRING order is coming as of yesterday! Piper Toth has been a huge Erin Flett friend and I just adore her shop! Please check out her online shop and please tell her I said hello!

Just for fun I wanted to show you some posters I did for the up and coming HOME DESIGN MID COAST SHOW that Maine Home & Design Magazine is putting on. I did all the branding for this event a few months ago and just opened MH&D Mag this month and found it on the first page. Very cool. If you don't know about this amazing Maine Mag--please check it out! These are still comp versions. (logos at the bottom are FPO's). But you get the idea. Or better yet, check it out in PRINT for real.

Thanks for stopping by--hopefully next post I will have awesome yardage photos, a ton of new wholesale accounts and new work to show! e

Textile Designers: 10 Women to Watch

2011-03-03T07:24:00.000-05:00

I had to post this and thank Apartment Therapy's Marketplace + Sarah Coffey for selecting me: Textile Designers: 10 Women to Watch. I am shocked and honored and can't believe I am on the same page as these other amazing women! Thank you thank you so so much! Please click the link above and check out these other designers that are changing the textile world.

I showed Breshia (my 6 year old) this little post and tried to explain the significance to her...explaining that now more then ever this dream of mine is coming around to something that could possible change our lives forever--that just maybe my little pillows have a voice. I know very dramatic---but everyone that makes anything-no matter what it is, has a distinct opportunity to say SOMETHING--could be anything. I want my prints to make people smile and feel connected...every imperfection and drawn element--collaged together...I want them to feel relevant and bring something in a home that needs to be there--something that was missing before?

Anyway, enough ramblings..gotta get B ready for school--just a serious heart felt thank you for selecting me..it just pushes me to continue what I have been dreaming up for so long--just gives more solid ground and confirmation that I am not totally out of my mind!

Thank you so much. e

Goodbye February-Hello March

2011-03-01T04:04:00.000-05:00

Hello-finally able to take a breath and just catch up--finally caught up--well sorta. Ready for March and all the things I have been meaning to get done. My mind races trying to gather all the things that I want to work on and all the million things that I am inspired by each day. The snow continues to fall here--it's relentless, but somehow it is a time of reflection and solitude. I cherish my time alone in my studio as well as time spent reading books with my kiddos, helping with homework and talking shop with Mas. I am finding the simplest things so spectacular and appreciating having this slight lull.

Just finished a few projects..the Chinese textile prints for the outdoor + interior industry here in the US are just completed--it was amazing amazing amazing and so so excited to continue. I pray that they sell so I can keep going. It has a been a dream/goal of mine to do fabric--yardage and the past few years I have done a fair share and can honestly say it is something that I feel is apart of me in way that just can't be described. Designing patterns that go into homes becomes so significant to me since the life span is more then 30 seconds and all the hard work going into a design is appreciated on a totally different level. I think that is what makes it so gratifying. Plus drawing all day is pretty much all I want to do these days--the other few projects I have completed is the new ID for Canal 5 Studio or C5S, a new architecture firm here in Portland Maine. A great amazing group of people--hoping to do some custom interior stuff--we talked about doing some funky pillows to go into the new space--in a lounge conference area--which sounds completely sweet so hopefully that will come around. Also finished with the MUSTARD HOUSE web design which will launch this SPRING. I am totally in love with it. On another note--AU, the killer bag company that I have done two custom prints for, is coming out with a third floral print this SPRING in some kick ass colors. I am going to get well--not sure but I love the lemon yellow, olive + and the blue is pretty amazing---as soon as we get some prototypes of the new print + colors I will post.

The newest up and coming things are prints for the NASHVILLE TAILS I spoke of last time--going to start really digging in this week. I have done tons of research and now ready to work out my first sketch round. Think MOD and MODERN with a hand drawn eclectic something---I love Dimple, one of the owners...so far have had some amazing conversations with her. I have some other graphic design kicking around but always hoping for new cool projects to round out all the other stuff...

And finally working on some custom yardage projects for local interior designers and finally on top of doing STACKED DECO--and I think Mas and I are going to try doing a few shower curtain prototypes. I have been wanting to do them for awhile..so not in love with what I have found out there--I have two new stitchers lined up which has been great and helpful to keep up with mad orders...It's a art that I just admire---wish I could sew. I see such craftsmanship and skill with my moms things, and hiring others is amazing. I love creating things to sell and so so fun working with talented people. I will post on them soon--they deserve more then a little mention...

Also been selling wholesale to a bunch of new shops and getting reorders from existing shops getting ready for Spring. I hope to focus on this a lot more in the coming weeks. I love connecting with shop owners and just plain talking pillows---ha ha. I know, how much can one talk about that but honestly I am still obsessed with them and hope to let go of this first line of prints and launch all the new stuff I have done...I may just start doing designs that are fresh in the middle of seasons. I get bored so fast and love the idea of a limited edition of some prints just to see how they do. Adding the framed prints, poster prints has been great and hope to add things that make sense in the future---the girls are still dreaming up new kiddo prints--almost daily these days! I have a list I am sure we will never print but who knows---

I am so so thrilled to be written up by Apartment Therapy last week. One of my all time favorite sites for cool shops all over and just an amazing fabulous resource for all things homeness. You can read the little blurp here: Patterned Throw Pillows by Erin Flett Designer Profile | Apartment Therapy New Yor k

So thankful they did not toss my first constant contact email blast and wrote about me. So amazing--I can't tell you how many pubs contacted me. I was amazed...I honestly believe that this internet thing has changed the game in launching your own stuff. It has changed the way things get out into the world. We all have a little ADD since we get what we want in a flash and move on. That is the deal--you need to be more then a flash and keep people wanting more...keeping things fresh and current and constantly challenging yourself--but honestly. Getting up and doing what you do best and throwing it out--even if it's just to get it out of your head--life is seriously about taking these insane leaps and just trusting that where ever you land is where you need to be at that very moment.

I have met some amazing people lately, connecting with souls that are striving and doing what they love. I do believe we are who we surround ourselves with. I hope to continue to meet others who demand life to be what it needs to be and keep down this path. All I want is to keep working and spend time with my family and friends. Life is just about that simple these days for me.

Taking it all in, one day at a time. Loving every minute of the Flett madness. e

Breshia's Room + Recent Happenings

2011-02-05T09:29:00.001-05:00

January was a blur and now settling into a new schedule and routine--visions of yardage silk screening, more pillow silk screening printing, poster printing...getting new wholesale accounts--updating website--dreaming up new patterns and working on some outdoor fabric prints for a Chinese Manufacturer--QSTYLE. The line will be small at first and hopefully expand. The prints will be focused on the US Market--getting a fresh new line of prints out there for outdoor fabrics. I am also creating different colorways for existing prints they have currently...putting a fresh spin on them. They seemed to love my colorways in my prints and really have let me pull comps together with a very modern, but vintage inspired colorways that scream american and outdoor worlds.

I am also been asked to license some new prints for SAVANNAH TAILS a brand new lux brand of dog collars + leashes and eventually accessories. I love the concept of this new line that will feature a few designers/artists like myself that will launch a few lines along with the other prints that they have chosen to work with for SPRING/SUMMER 2011.

I have also been working on some new brand identities--a new architecture firm here in Portland and a beautiful brand for a existing shop, THE MUSTARD HOUSE that will have a fresh new look and feel---working on the website now. I will show and tell soon. Below are the first round of web home page comps that have not been approved. Pam is still pondering what look and feel she wants to go for. I personally love all of them but especially love the last one with the more layered look. The card will be a sweet dye cut that will also be a hang tag. What I love about Pam Haines is that her style is multi-faceted collaging the old with the new creating a shopping experience unlike anything I have seen.

And because I love taking all my vintage finds, grandma gifts and all things sweet. I wanted to share Breshia's room. My lovely 6 year old that has a totally different room then Ary's obviously--her colors are soft and quiet, sweet with a touch of whimsy. Her room has evolved a lot since her toddler days but now as a big 6 year old we have collected a cottage vintage bed that was painted this amazing blue--with hand painted florals...I fell in love with this bed at a junk shop in Limington before B was even born. I brought it home and Maslen was totally in shock since it's obviously a bed for a little girl and NOT a baby ha ha. But somehow I convinced him it was one of a kind and we had to have it--(a speech I give often and I typically win out--and have the Mr. Flett load it in the truck!).

So the bed came first and the rest followed. The old green wainscoting cupboard was a very dirty white or cream---it came from my moms finds collected for her antique shop that she was ready to part with. So I painted it apple green and pink inside just for fun--she loved it and I had a blast painting it.

I added the white little dresser recently with a vintage mirror that I painted white along with the antique plates my grandmother gave me that she said her mother gave her. I am so so in love with them. They are very sweet and have the loveliest colors. They don't fit anywhere in my house since they are so so sweet but they seemed to scream Breshia so I hung the set on her wall.

I found the other things--old ladder chair, floral oil painting and the cool vintage hair salon box all at random garage sales and junk shops. Her bedding is Liz Claiborne and I really love the shabby chic linens that have extra deep pockets for her fat bed that have amazing details like the 6" ruffle edges. The new framed prints of the kiddo pillows are hung over her bed as she requested and the pink DAISY THORN pillow to top it off for all her evening book reading. (Notice Ary picked the same print but in Orange--) I love her room...it's soothing and sweet but I am sure once she is a bit older she will find treasures of her own. For now I love her art work hung on the walls--(king and queen illustration of mas and i--gotta love that and of course I hung I LOVE MOM on the wall as well. I don't think this will last but it's amazing and great for now that she thinks we are the king and queen. Ary the other day asked if Daddy was my prince---and of course I said yes. Isn't this why we put things together--for the stories and soul it gives a room?

YUMMY PHOTOS FROM A YUMMY LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY + AU / Erin Flett Comes out with NEW FLORAL PRINT!

2011-01-17T07:53:00.002-05:00

Some lovely amazing images courtesy of Jodi Palmer a great new photographer that came across the pillows online and asked to borrow for a shoot for a up and coming story in La Petite Magazine . A Yummy Life Photography is a professional children's portrait studio based in Salt Lake City, Utah. A Yummy Life Design offers unique and modern templates for professional photographers. And I hope to do up some cool surface patterns + graphic designs for some up and coming templates so please stay tooned! Should be a lot of fun!

On another note, AU + Erin Flett is coming out this SPRING with Mrs. Robinson! The Bag collection did really well last season and they asked for a floral to help balance out the Worn Current + Island Edge I have been working, fine tuning this print for some time and finally received strike offs for color this past week! So it's getting me excited for SPRING! I am really excited for this floral print that is really vintage inspired hence the name Mrs. Robinson who is a famous character in THE GRADUATE 1967.

I love this new blog about COLOR TRENDS in 2011 and I am happy that we are keeping the ORANGE + YELLOW and this lovely OLIVE GREEN! The GRAYS + NAVY will balance the color out and sure to continue to be the staples. LOVE LOVE this new print and it looks even more LOVELY in person and printed! ENJOY.

Happy New Year-2011 Calender now on SALE!

2010-12-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

2010-12-27T10:54:00.000-05:00

RURAL MODERN STYLE is colorful, contemporary painted hardwood furniture and home accessories FROM FURNITUREA out of Portland, Maine. A rural modern style is inspired by the traditional forms of rural Maine architecture and the decorative arts, re-imagined in a modern cast and imbued with a whimsical spirit. Custom designs and custom colors to order.

The company that would become Furniturea was started as a carpentry company in 1974 in Bridgton, a small town in rural western Maine. Brian Haddock, the 1st and for awhile the only employee, combined his formal design education and his interest in craft to found a carpentry company to repair and restore old houses. There were plenty of old houses that needed repair and restoration in rural western Maine.

What I love the most about this line of furniture is the contemporary lines and colors that all are customizable for anyone who wants this fresh look in a unusual size or color--slight modifications and you have yourself a custom piece that literally sings a song to who ever walks by. As you know, details are everything to me and I love the kiln dried maple and birch hardwood and veneer harvested locally from the forests of New England and eastern Canada. Free of added formaldehyde and meet California’s 2009 clean air standards.

I have been so lucky to have FURNITUREA add my new line of pillows to this amazing space. I love love this style and hope to fill my house with it one piece at a time. I am so so inspired by these modern lines and shapes...amazing.

Attached are some photos of the store front that I happened to take the evening before MERRY MADNESS A Shop ‘til you drop event held downtown Portland Old Port!! Enjoy.

Year End

2010-12-22T12:39:00.002-05:00

Hello and Happy Holidays! A quick post before the holiday break. Been a great year full of different opportunities and experiences. I loved my time at Maine Magazine & Maine Home Design Magazine + meeting so many wonderful people that are doing what I am doing---working at something that means everything to them and making a living at it. And of course all the people that came up to me during the few shows we attended that thanked me or mentioned how they love the pillow prints...I loved seeing people walk up to the pillows and smile. My heart melted. It was like a piece of my world was getting through the madness. So amazing how something can hopefully change a mood or bring joy to someone...color and texture can be amazing like that.

The girls are getting big fast and holding onto every moment! Pillows selling like mad and searching for another stitcher that will help us out--Loving adding new things to the existing line of home + kiddo prints---I also have 4 new designs I am excited to print that are multi colored bold abstracted flowers--one up per pillow. Simple but cool. So many ideas cooking--oh and Maslen and I are working on yardage now---so that I hope will be something that we will have come Spring/Summer! (Stacked Deco will be the first print we are trying..) Carol Bass who was the master mind behind MAINE COTTAGE FURNITURE And one more thing--AU's new print that I designed is coming out SUPER FAST for SPRING--We just approved the 3 new colorways. (LEMON DROP YELLOW/A SUPER CREAMY BLUE/ and super amazing ERIN OLIVE GREEN that will for sure be my favorite. The new bag print will be on natural color nubby cotton fabric--(before they printed on white). Excited to see how this changes the look and feel and will be able to carry over to FALL nicely. I will post as soon as I can.

Freelance has been steady and always looking for great graphic design gigs that speak to me. Did a few websites this year and a lot of brand identities that I really loved...just excited to keep going and really take my work to new heights. 2011 will be about organizing the madness and streamlining things---fine tuning really. Life is crazy but lovely and I would not have it any other way. Very thankful to do what I love and be here in my studio. Life for me is bringing simplicity to our home and loving the girls...and showing them that dreams do come true everyday.

A little blurp from LIVEWORKPORLTLAND that sums it up nice I think. I love being apart of this amazing working community. CHEERS to you all and hope to connect soon. xo e

LiveWork Portland – CreativePortland.Me Profile: Designer Erin Flett

HOLIDAY PICNIC

2010-12-15T10:23:00.001-05:00

Mas and I had an amazing weekend at the HOLIDAY PICNIC SHOW. Since it was our third show ever, we were excited to connect with such amazing creative souls. The amount of great work was incredible and hanging out next to ZETI for two days would brighten anyones spirits! (see me and ZETI below...) I have to say that connecting with other little kiddos with the pillows was amazing. Seeing how they loved the pillows and really gravitated toward the little critters made me smile. We sold quite a few large pillows as well and met some very cool people. We sold the barkcloth frames which was well received and sold a ton of paper posters as usual...and even my calender was printed in time for the last day. Please enjoy this collection of images I put together quickly. I hope to post about all the individual artists I met. So so many! Thank you all of you for making the last two shows a great start to a new year for studio e! xo e

2010-12-05T08:16:00.001-05:00

Hello hello. Maslen and I had a great show at the SHOP-A-DO event held out SPACE GALLERY, 538 Congress Street, downtown Portland. It was held Friday and Saturday night and it was amazing. Maslen and I were blown away. Friday was wall to wall people buying everything from cashmere rope necklaces, (had to trade for one) handmade clothes, felted critters (these little owls that were amazing!) and fine art---AND so thankful to say a lot of PILLOWS, PAPER PRINTS + everything else we had for sale. Once I dig out I will post on some of these amazing souls I met! It was a whirl wind of amazing people and stories and time to connect with fellow mates that are doing the same thing Mas and I are doing---making handmade goods because we love it and because it's our passion. So amazing to connect with so many people that totally buy in to BUYING LOCAL! LOVE IT and thank you so much for stopping by, saying hello, telling a story and picking up something.

Another amazing thing happened this week. I had some great wholesale orders that came in which is always amazing and fun, but a special call out to CITY BIRD who mentioned to me that a couple of my pillows are going to be shown on a set in Detroit 1-8-7 (a show on ABC set in Detroit). The set designers loved them and bought them to be used in a home that will be featured in January or February. GO DETROIT! So I will hopefully have more on that once I receive more information!

Okay and the last thing that I wanted to post was a great feature on the LIVEWORKPORTLAND BLOG
They were nice enough to do a blurp on me for a new section of the website featuring local people living and working in the portland area. Loved it, honored and so thrilled to be apart of such a life changing organization. So please visit the site often and really get involved. The best way we can thrive here in Portland and Maine is to seriously buy local, support local businesses. I for one buy where it's most economical and makes sense for my family--but I have to say that buying from local farmers, shops and everything inbetween feels better and ultimately better for my family. So bit by bit, even if it's more expensive for us, we are going to make more of an effort. WE have to. We owe it to this amazing state and community that we love so much!

PS. A little video from SHOP-A-DO that was super amazing:

Shop-A-Do 2010 Time Lapse

vimeo.com

SPACE Gallery annual Shop-A-Do event December 3, 2010. Portland, Maine. Music by Alias from the title track off "Resurgam" h ttp://space538.org/

Flett House Series- My bedroom

2010-11-18T16:38:00.000-05:00

I was taking photos for a up and coming catalog for the pillows--and I wanted to share some images of my bedroom to go along with the FLETT HOUSE SERIES. The bedspread is from PotteryBarn and the Las Vegas style headboard and furniture is from a near by junk/antique store that I love in Limington, Maine called the "Chicken Coop." The masks I bought at a auction a year or so ago and everything else is found either from my mom's house that is full of antiques or from local junk shops.

I am loving orange and gray these days as you can see--and I have always wanted light blue walls in my bedroom--which have always been a creamy yellow... I am totally in love with the black frames with metal flowers I found in a antique shop in Saco. I have thought about painting them but I do love how the gold meshes well with my bohemian bed. The lamps are from my grandmother that I want to redo at some point and the chandelier was given to me from my father, aunt and uncle when my grandfather passed. It came to me in a huge wooden crate all the way from Eaton Colorado. It was in the dining room of my grandfathers house and when he died it was going to be sold so they took it down for me and sent it to me. I guess my grandfather gave it to my grandmother as a birthday gift and now it lives with me in my bedroom. I am so thankful that it came all that way to Maine in one piece!

I can't live with out my vintage scarves or the antique mirror I found in Buxton with my mom--we stopped and picked it up for $20 bucks. The best deal ever. The vintage red chair was the first chair Maslen and I picked up at a garage sale when we moved to Maine. I want to redo it too but for now it is still in the horse hair red wool which wears like iron! Thanks for looking! e

New Kiddo Pillows + HOLIDAY INDIE CRAFT SHOWS

2010-10-31T09:59:00.002-04:00

I have been working on coming out with new kiddo prints and finally here they are. I have had so much fun refining these little guys and finally able to start taking orders and hopefully have these out in full swing by some of the holiday shows I will be attending in November and December.

HOLIDAY SHOWS I WILL BE ATTENDING:

NOVEMBER 13th

Mistletoe Boutique Welcome to our first annual Mistletoe Boutique! Please join us on Saturday, November 13 from 9:00-3:00 for food, libations and fabulous shopping featuring vendors with locally produced jewelry, stationery, gifts, handbags, pillows, home accessories and the Pampered Pooch area!

DECEMBER 3rd
SPACE GALLERY SHOW-A-DO!
Come revel in handmade bliss with one of our most popular events: Shop-A-Do! Browse through an inspiring collection of local crafters’ goods including prints, handmade clothing, original artwork, books, t-shirts, cards and more! Grab a hot beverage, don a cozy sweater and come on down for some good old fashioned holiday cheer.

DECEMBER 11th-12th
2nd annual Picnic Holiday Sale will take place on Saturday, Dec 11, and Sunday, Dec 12! This juried indie craft fair will be held indoors at the Maine Irish Heritage Center at 34 Gray St and State St. The Sale will run from noon to 8pm on Saturday, and noon to 5pm on Sunday, admission is free.

Just a quick preview of the small pillows: Please contact me for wholesale information and pre ordering. They should be ready to go into shows SPRING 2010 and sooner on my ETSY SHOP! Stay tooned!

Flett House Series-Ary's Room

2010-10-10T08:31:00.006-04:00

I have had a lot of people ask how I live with the pillows..and I decided to start a series of THE FLETT HOUSE..which is a little glimpse of our little world here in Maine...
I am going to start with Aryana's room who just turned 3. She is now in her "big girl" bed that Maslen and I found at a local church sale before she was born. Picking up two for $30 was a steal and I dreamed of the girls sharing a room one day. But due to the small size of the girls rooms once we moved in, they are solo. A fresh coat of white paint and a little love and here it is. (Mas sanded and sanded and painted while Breshia art directed shouting out placing he missed.) Found vintage linens and comforter that I have held onto for years. I think the comforter was a goodwill find and the linens at a charming old lady's home in Buxton. The comforter is handmade by some amazing soul that totally caught my eye...clearly hand stitched when you look underneath. I knew Ary's room would be different then B's which is pastel pinks.

Ary gravitates to hot pink and oranges and loves bold and graphic pictures and stories. Her fire in her eyes and the obsession with old books that she drags out of my studio inspired the room. A buttery yellow paint on the walls that is a little too bright during the day but something we have grown to love. Little Ary picked out the large Home Economics lithograph, 1952, above her bed of little girls playing house---sewing and ironing and playing dolls. It's in rough shape but I am completely and thoroughly enamored by it. We were junking and picked it up at a local shop her in Gorham at TINSEL BRIGHT She points out all the details, the doll, the dresser and the window, and does not let you forget the big scissors and thread bobbins. Ary is facinated with sewing from her Nana's influence and always asks, "how you do that nana?" Breshia says she will be a good driver because she has practices at Nana's...(foot of the sewing machine..) I laugh out loud and feel thankful my mom is teaching them...Little ary loves her room which is clearly with out a ton of toys. We keep the girl's rooms pretty clear and have made one of the other rooms a nice play room that is super sweet and deliciously all about art, playing and movies. Stay tooned for that. I was able to pick up the cutest mid century sofa that is super petite for that space in TINSEL BRIGHT as well over the Summer. Another steal of $99. I could not say no and envision redoing it someday in a Erin Flett print...The Erin Flett DAISY THORN in Mango Orange is Ary's new favorite and goes well in this sea of colors. B loves the same print but in the soft pink. which feels totally different in her little room. You get to see her space next week. e

Maine Women's Fund-Product To Passion

2010-10-03T09:01:00.003-04:00

I was honored to be asked to kick off the Maine Women's Fund, Leadership Series in PASSION TO PRODUCT along side two amazing women. Beth Shissler, one of two women who started SEA BAGS, which turns recycled sails into fashionable bags; and Charlotte Levitt, founder of CHART metalworks, which turns nautical charts embedded in resin into stylish jewelry; and me. I was a good mix in this group of women because I am at the very beginning at developing my name and my own passion and was honored to be among these two amazing women entrepreneurs. The talk was informal and personal and we all talked about our sources of inspirations, challenges of running design companies..I also talked about mommiehood, having a dream, making goals and putting one foot in front of the other.
I wanted to thank MAINE WOMEN'S FUND for including me and letting me be apart of something I really believe in. This program is about engaging and enriching women at every stage of life, encouraging confident strides, supporting emerging leaders, and creating lasting change that improves our communities and the world for generations to come.
I am in that mode right now figuring how I navigate from here. Launching for the first time my own line and moving forward...life is so nuts trying to do what you are really meant to do, but all the years doing design work for other companies is helping me down that road. I am still working doing surface design and have many design clients that are patient with my new crazy schedule, as well as working part time at Maine & MH&D Magazines...it all fits into this amazing package I am calling my life these days.

I have been asked by bloggers what is it that keeps me going and how it works...all I can say about that which could be a book someday I think, HA HA..but honestly, it's about keeping yourself focused on one thing, then another and making a ton of lists...and letting go of things that are not important--only focusing on things you must do and eliminate all the fluff---fluff fluff fluff---

Anyway, I think this is another post for the future. My head is still spinning from all the things on my plate at the moment and I thought yesterday I had an amazing moment where I was in a place of calm, and today a place of insanity. But that is the heart of a designer. It is what keeps it real and keeps me growing. I don't think I will ever figure out the perfect balance but maybe the perfect storm. I love what I am doing, love my babies and husband...who really is my partner in this ever changing story...and of course doing custom designs for clients, and my self. It really does not get better then this...just have to figure out how to keep my house clean in the mist of it all...:) e

NEW FOR FALL & WINTER

2010-09-28T02:08:00.001-04:00

Okay everyone, I have been a busy bee picking and choosing what is next for WINTER. Some old and some new, but a peek at the NEW small KIDDO line! I added "BRUISER" the puppy, "PUFF" the kitten, and "FROGGIE" well, you guessed it, the frog:). I also have officially added "ARIA FLORAL", a sunflower collage inspired from the miles of sunflowers and a dear friend which has been out but not really pushed till this FALL, "ASHLEY PINE" inspired by a MAINE CAMP WEDDING celebrated just recently at a local Sebago Camp here in Maine. And "HANNAH" designed inspired by a another dear friend who asked for a floral to go in her historic home that is amazing and beautiful and was calling out for something in cranberry! Another print that I am playing with is "MATCH BOX" a abstract modern inspired repeat print that is super layered and linear...to compliment the other more modern prints...such as "MOD GEO", "WIND" and "COFFE RINGS".

Just a little peek--I am producing my WINTER flyer and catalog as we speak and will be updating my website to reflect the newest of the new. Still tweaking colors--I am in love with caramel browns, grays and rich browns, and olive greens for Fall as well as this yummy yellow that I did for Ashley's recent wedding...and the kiddos colors are inspired by B and Ary who insisted the kitten be in purple and the doggie must be red or orange or both, and the frog, well it must be green Ary said, (just turned 3!). So stay tooned!

PORTLAND PICNIC arts + music festival

2010-09-12T10:00:00.002-04:00

For those of you who came by my booth, thank you so much. Maslen and I were so grateful that you stopped by and loved that we were able to sell out of a lot of screened paper prints and sold a ton of little kiddo pillows and quite a few large pillows! Thank you thank you! A few pictures that capture the day! xo e

Gorham Times

2010-09-12T09:42:00.001-04:00

Okay Gorham, Maine residents, I was so so excited to see this little blurp in GORHAM TIMES. My local newspaper here in Gorhan, Maine...I was interviewed a while back from Linda Morris..a very talented designer herself who also writes for the GT. It was a sweet little write up that really was the first blurp that touched upon my background, bark cloth and my mom’s antique store..and basically that a grew up in a home that embraced everything old---my mom and I still love the hunt and find amazing treasures everywhere we go! I recently found some amazing funky old costume jewelry at the FLEA MARKET down the coast in ARUNDEL, MAINE. Every weekend until it gets too cold outside! Tons of crazy finds but recent loves are a few necklaces I could not live with out. $5 bucks each. Yes I will take both please:) Just in case you don’t know what I am talking about--head down to Antiques USA- Route 1- Arundel, ME 04046 & Arundel Antiques- 1713 Portland Rd- Arundel, ME 04046-7938--this FLEA MARKET is in between these two antique stores!

Home & Decor Magazine Feature

2010-09-12T09:38:00.000-04:00

RUTH CHAN from HOME DECOR MAGAZINE out of SINGAPORE just told me the feature artical is out on ERIN FLETT pillows! (SEPTEMBER p. 120) Thank you so very much Ruth! The write up looks great! Two great pictures were featured with a little write up. I was told I could not show the actual spread. But here is a peek at the cover. Home & Decor Magazine is Singapore’s leading authority on design and decor trends. Chic and design-savvy readers keep tabs on the beautiful homes and stunning furnishings they feature. They make stylish living easy. Here is the cover pic!