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Introducing Spring | Summer 2015 [Part 2}

I don’t know about you, but I’m still blown away by Jackie, Sarah, and Mary Jo’s goooooorgeous creations (here). Aren’t they just incredible? I could stare at them all day (literally, all day), but we have more colors to introduce, so as promised, let’s add four more colors to the mix! Rounding out the spring and summer line with the help of even more local creatives, let’s welcome Thistle, Nest, Lime, and Wander!

I can't get over how incredibly talented Megan of Mae Mae & Co. is. Her attention to detail in every job she does is simply remarkable. When I asked her to help me out with our multifaceted color Thistle, she not only gave me this wonderful image, she went ahead and created three different inspirational images. "I wanted to create scenes that represented different kinds of tabletop scenes for different makers/doers to represent creative ways to use these little vessels." She most definitely hit the nail on the head as our Thistle reflects purple with a strong sense of blue...bold, yet natural, warm and cool alike. Check out our instagram for a peek at another of Megan's images.

Immediately when I named this warm greyish brown Nest, I thought of Mary Jo's remarkable images of her natural collections on her Still blog. I imagined an abundance of bird homes and feathers but like any good artist, she was able to use her talent and see through the name to these beautiful, naturally rounded pebbles. This perfectly explains our new spring color NEST...warm, rich, a bit modern and a bit soft all as one.

What to you get when you ask a designer/baker and full time mamma to curate a collection of objects inspired by a mouth watering, vibrant fruit? This perfect pattern of all things LIME. Thankfully, Melissa of the ever inspiring The Faux Martha blog obliged my request to help us introduce LIME. Kindred design spirits; her clean, modern pattern spells out all things that are good in the kitchen (including our kiddos).

Our color Wander was inspired by a never ending blue sky and the urge to follow it wherever it may lead. Just like our friends at the beautiful Driftless magazine believe:

Our interests lie in exploring the world around you, cooking with fresh, wholesome ingredients, slowing down to fully take in your surroundings, and spending time with those who mean the most to you. We love trying new things, eating local, sharing the wonders of our own backyards, and keeping family traditions alive in new and interesting ways. We are hardworking, kind, resourceful, and down-to-earth. We’re always in awe of the Great Lakes. We are a cultural crossroads — we are the Midwest."

The huge thank you goes to our wonderful friends who helped us introduce this season’s line! You should already know this by now, but you guys are the best!

Introducing Spring | Summer 2015 [Part 1]

It’s finally, finally here – the day we get to unveil the first half of our new 2015 spring and summer line! Don’t get me wrong, I loved our fall and winter colors, but I think it’s high time we moved onto something a little warmer and brighter, don’t you? (And if you missed our last post, you can see some of the inspiration behind this season’s line here.)

We are excited and honored to have some of our kindest, most talented and creative Minneapolis friends to help us introduce these new colors with their artistic interpretations. What they’ve done is just so beautiful, so lovely, and so fun that I’m, frankly, beside myself with glee. So with no further ado, here they are: Punch, Miel, Baltic and Conch.

Thanks to the lovely Jackie Reisenauer for her beautiful floral stylings to help me introduce Punch, a fruity-fun, bright pinky red! Her floral and design studio Munster Rose has been one of Minneapolis' most sought after floral design studios in addition to being listed as one of the top floral designs by Martha Stuart Weddings.

We are grateful to be friends with the multi-talented Sarah Kiefer of The Vanilla Bean Blog and love how she captured Miel (Spanish for honey) a beautiful, warm light yellow. Sarah's mouth watering recipes, thoughtful words and emotional images have landed her featured spots on many of the best known food publications in addition to being named Saveur Magazines, Best Baking and Deserts Blog 2014. No doubt the best is yet to come as she is in the depths of writing her first book which will no doubt be a baking 'must have'.

Mary Jo Hoffman inspires thousands each day with her serene Still Blog as she collects ordinary objects and makes them extraordinary. Obviously, she has not disappointed as she continues to create remarkable images in any medium. We couldn't be more grateful that she agreed help us introduce this bright BALTIC blue.

I had the fortune of taking a winter weekend escape to Florida and had fun collection pieces to help introduce Conch, a warm pinky peach. I love collecting beautiful treasures from our family adventured around the country and finding unlimited color inspiration from them. I am constantly energized by finding beauty in some of the smallest details of nature.

Aren’t these just amazing? Thank you so much to Jackie, Sarah and Mary Jo for helping us out. And stay tuned for Thursday’s post where we’ll introduce the final four colors with the help of some more of our wonderful, local friends!

Spring Color Inspiration Sneak Peek

I can’t even believe it. Sunday is March 1st, which means we finally get to launch our spring colors! (If we’re launching our spring colors, does that mean we get to put away our winter coats and snow boots, too?!) In anticipation, we wanted to share some of the inspiration behind this season’s palate. Check it out here; we hope it has you dreaming of the warmer days to come! (And make sure to check back on Monday for a special introduction to the line – we promise you won’t want to miss it.)

Happy weekend, lovelies! Of course you can find some of my favorite inspiration on my Pinterest board here.

February Workshop Recap

First and foremost, thank you. Thank you to you wonderful people who came out and joined us for our first Wind & Willow Home workshops. We had such a blast meeting you, teaching you, and learning more about your creative and business goals.

Our selling online workshop was just awesome. It was so wonderful to see the diversity in the room, from entrepreneurs who’ve already started out, to future entrepreneurs who have dreamed up their business and are in the process of making it real. From interactive discussion to targeted business questions, we covered a lot of ground and I had such a great time learning more about each of your ideas. In fact, this workshop was so fun that we’re planning on doing a repeat class in March! (You heard it here first.) From there, we’ll be diving into more focused areas of creative entrepreneurship in future workshops, including how to use Instagram and product photography. (As always, drop us a note if you have any specific requests for future workshops at [email protected]!)

And then our weaving workshop. We are just SWOONING over your amazing creations, each completely unique and completely yours. We can’t even begin to verbalize how gorgeous your pieces are, so luckily we have some photos to help us, check out all the fun on Instagram #wwhworkshop.

Since our first weaving workshop was SOLD OUT, we wanted to give you all a chance to get in on the fun. So, by popular demand, we’d be happy to repeat this class! You can sign up here for our March Weaving Workshop in addition to our new Block Printing Workshop. In the meantime, we’ll just be counting down the days until our next workshops!

Images from the weekend | Ice Castle

It's that time of year again! Spring fever is setting in and we are trying to squeeze out every last bit of optimism by taking a stab at new and exciting Winter activities. This weekend my daughter and I took a day and visited the Eden Prairie Ice castle. Reminiscent of glorious ice formations from a certain Disney Fairytale; however these beauties were formed naturally, with a bit of a start from us mortals.

More the Ice Castles here.

Glorious, don't you think? If only ice wasn't so cold...

I hope you had a splendid weekend, with memories enough to cary you through the week!

How to care for your [magical] air plant

I’m convinced that air plants are magic. Their nomadic ability to make a home anywhere – inside a glass, attached to a wall, nestled in a bowl - impresses me to no end. (And maybe makes me a little jealous – imagine the freedom!)

I’ve loved these little guys for a long time – both for their adaptability and for their adorableness. But it is easy to forget that just because they don’t need soil, doesn’t mean they don’t also need water. Here are some tips on taking care of your air plant so that he can stick around and brighten your days for a long time to come:

• Make sure your little guy is getting some good sun. (This should be a rule for me, too.) Try to give him bright, indirect light, but if he’s sitting in the path of direct light for a few hours, that’s fine, too. You’ll just need to water him more frequently.
• A good rule of thumb is to water your air plant(s) once a week (or 2-3 times a week if you’re in a dry climate). Of course, because they’re not in a pot of soil, watering them is a little different than watering your average houseplant. You’ll need to fill a container – I usually use my sink - with water. Dip each air plant in the water.

• Once your plants have been soaking for fifteen minutes or so, take your plants out of the water.
• Shake the water off of your plants and then put your air plants somewhere where they can dry out. I usually arrange mine on a towel, but you can use any surface that’s absorbable. It may take up to four hours for them dry out.
• In between waterings, I also give them a light mist with a spray bottle.

And that’s it! Just like magic.

What's your favorite way to display your air plant? Show us #magicalairplant #windwillowhome

A Weekend Away

Can anything be more glorious than hopping a plane and leaving 6 degree temps and a monochromatic landscape for mid 70s, sunshine filled skies and blissful sunsets? Maybe, but I sure can't think of anything at the moment.

On Friday, my husband and I declared Florida Friday and high tailed it out of Minnesota to Tampa for a quick, much needed tropical vacation. Hooray! Here are some of the highlights.

When can I go back?!

Do you have a favorite way to beat the Winter blues?

A Custom Salad Bowl Case Study

I didn't plan this post but I just had to share it with you because it brought me such joy. It's not very often that I either have the time or am able to fill a custom request but in this case, all of the pieces fell together. I received a beautiful email from a customer stating that she had put one of my bowls on her list to Santa and hoped to receive one for Christmas but didn't. She decided to use some of the money she received to purchase a bowl on her own but wanted something extra special and shared her ideas in a beautiful collage.

My criteria for accepting this custom request.

1. I received this very sweet and convincing note from a customer

2. I was just coming off the busy holiday season and needed a break and chance to just be creative

3. Her inspiration collage was...inspirational

As you know, I am a sucker for natural inspiration.

Each color was custom mixed individually then arranged with the inspiration collage in mind. For pieces like this, the proportions of color are of the utmost importance.

The finished product! Hooray! I love creating art and I love when it can be used every day!

A note from the recipient: "I simply love them! thank you thank you thank you! The colours are perfect, I love the metallic detail and the different woods. You did an excellent job! I am so in love with them and cannot wait to fill them up with beautiful salads. Even my man was stoked and sincerely appreciated their beauty (and he thought i was a bit bananas for investing in them)."

Rag Rug DIY

You all know by now (or if you don’t know, now you know in the immortal words of the Notorious B.I.G.) that I love color. I love its cheeriness, its ability to set a mood, the way it brightens a room, and its individuality. And the NAMES!: Atomic tangerine. Banana mania. Coquelicot. Cosmic latte. Inchworm. Isabelline. Paris green. Razzmatazz. I mean, can colors be any more fun? (No, no they can’t.)

When we decided to paint the studio white (ultra pure white to be specific), I knew that we would have to find a way to add some color to the room or it just wouldn’t feel like my space. And that’s when I stumbled (literally) upon the perfect solution: a rug. Rugs are the perfect accent – whether you go modern, antique, graphic, or batik, rugs just add that finishing touch, that je ne sais quoi that makes a space YOUR space. But I was in a bit of a pickle: I wanted (I needed!) a rug, but after pouring my heart, soul, and if we’re being honest, my finances, into signing a lease on the studio and renovating it, I couldn’t afford to buy my dream rug. So what did I do? Well, dear reader, I improvised and made my own – and so can you! Read on to find out how to make your perfect rug in just a few, easy steps. (And a quick trip to your Mom’s sewing closet.)

Here's what you need:

• 12-19 x 29" rag rugs (to make one, 6 ft. x 7 1/2 ft. area rug)
• Thick Thread (I used embroidery thread)
• Large Needle

Love is all you need

Over the past 3 years I have had a few thoughtful gentlemen email me (and one Mother-in-Law to be) requesting a custom Treasure Pot in their girlfriend's favorite color or a color that was special to the couple. The level of thoughtfulness these men have is impressive and I wanted to share a few with you today in anticipation for Valentines day...which apparently is quite high on the list of proposal days!

The first custom request I ever received was from a guy who requested a very particular shade of purple by sending a photo of his girlfriend's favorite flower, Lilac. In this case, he was planning on proposing to her in a public garden surrounded by big, blooming Lilac bushes. Can you imagine the smell and the scene? The stuff of fairytales!

Another thoughtful request came from an excited guy who wanted a pot in sea blue, a color that was special to them as a couple. It represented their original trip to Mexico where they first fell in love 2 years prior. This was also the destination that he was about to propose, on the beach, at SUNSET! Aaahhhhmazing!

Finally, I received a special request from a soon to be Mother-in-Law who spotted these little pots and knew her son's girlfriend was the one. He would be asking her for his hand in marriage with his great-granmothers heirloom ring and, "It needed a special box to be presented in" she said.

I don't always have the time to make custom pieces but each time I do I imagine the excitement of the recipient and it is if I can transport myself into their shoes. The shared excitement reminds me of how my husband proposed, 9 years ago, on a gazebo at the end of Shovel Point stretching out into Lake Superior (we had been hiking around for 3 hours before he found the right spot).

In each of these cases their girlfriends accepted (Hooray!) and in one case (that I know of) the bride loved her Treasure Pot so much she ordered custom colored pots as a gift for here bridesmaids. If you have a beautiful story such as these where one of our products was involved we would LOVE to hear it.