My favorite season has arrived. Since I’m in California and we had a pretty mild winter, I shouldn’t be quite so excited – but I AM. I love it when everything starts to bloom. So Katina went out and took some photos of new flowers in my garden. If you haven’t had your blossoms start popping yet – here are some of mine for you to enjoy!
Posted by: Dena in Untagged on
Mar 12, 2009
It’s not often that I find one of those really special recipes. I had dinner at my friend Johanna’s and she made an apple cake that was truly delicious. It’s the perfect comfort food – serve it warm with ice cream preferable on a lovely vintage floral plate. There are big chunks of apple in this cake, which I love. If you want to imagine that you’re eating dessert at a country kitchen apple farm, give this a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Do you have a really good recipe? I would love to hear about it!
Posted by: Dena in Business on
Mar 05, 2009
Katrina (who works on all kinds of studio projects) made wonderful pillows with the Monaco collection fabrics and set them on a clean white denim sofa. Katrina had a good time making the fabric flags hanging above the couch and embellishing them with fabric flowers (die cut with the Sizzix Machine), pleats, ruffles, and tassels. To top it all off was a mini poodle of course! She belongs to my friend Babs, and her name is Ruby just like my tiny teacup poodle (who is also named Ruby but has not been groomed in a long, long time.) For this diva dog, Katrina made a diva dog coat with an aqua pompom trim and vintage buttons.
Christina Hernandez took the photos. At first we set everything up outside. Ruby loved getting to prance around and smell the flowers, but the outdoor light wasn’t working for us that day.
We moved inside and our model Ruby posed perfectly on the pillows; when we told her to hold a pose she would look right at the camera and stay!
Towards the end Ruby started to look a little sleepy, so we called it a day.
Many thanks to Ruby, Babs, Katrina, and Christina for helping us make these photos happen. We’ll let you know where and when the ad comes out.
For more photos from this day and more, head over to my flickr photo page!
Dena Designs on flickr
Posted by: Dena in Announcements on
Feb 24, 2009
Today I created a flickr photo page! Flickr.com is a networking website for sharing and managing photos. It's another great way for me to connect with you! I will be adding photos of my daily life, my studio and home, things I'm working on, and DIY projects.
I love to see how people are using my fabrics, kits, and albums in their own unique way. I’ve already joined a ton of groups about flea markets and beautiful antiques so that I can be inspired by great finds. Groups are places that people with similar interests can get together (within flickr) to share photos about the same thing.
What I’m really excited about is the way flickr will allow me to see what you’re making, too. By becoming contacts, we will be able to see each other’s photos quickly and easily – it’s like having someone in your address book. Add me to your contacts, I can’t wait to see what you’re taking photos of!
Dena Designs on flickr
The first part of the project was the activity bags that Hayley and Marika filled with puzzles, books, beanie babies, activity books, and little goodies. They used my fabric to sew 25 one of a kind bags to hold everything and then donated it all to the children at the hospital.
Next, Hayley and Marika created an activity day in the playroom of the oncology department. They put together several activities including pumpkin painting, beading, and decorating squares of fabric. These squares were then used in the quilt.
Great job, Hayley and Marika! I am honored to be a small part of this beautiful project. Hayley and Marika brought so much joy to so many children and happily the children’s quilt will be framed and permanently displayed in the hospital.
Posted by: Dena in Announcements on
Feb 12, 2009
We have been working on a brand new collection called “Happi” by Dena.
We wanted to design something that makes you cheery, smiley, and well… happy. While I was designing the collection I wrote down a list of things that make me happy so I could get in that “happi” frame of mind.
Write me and tell me about what makes you happy!
The first product using this new collection will be used at the US Post Office. You can see it there in March on all kinds of boxes, mailers, labels, etc. Look for the butterflies and flowers. And remember, even though times are tough – think happi!
Love,
Dena
Posted by: Dena in Craft Projects, Business on
Feb 05, 2009
I made an apron that I embellished with trims and die cut flowers, a diva dog coat (with matching headband!), and two different flag banners spelling out “Dena” and “Sweet” using alphabet and flower dies.
There is even a specific Sizzix die that we designed for cupcake liners. What a great way to personalize a party. On top of the cupcakes we added cute animals that I made by spray mounting fabric to cardstock before die cutting the shapes and then attaching them to toothpicks. Details make the difference.
I cut out paper animals, borders, tags, and other shapes from my new Tween and Birthday collections for chocolate bar wrappers. I embellished each one with glitter, rhinestones, pom-poms, and more. I love making even the smallest details sparkle and shine!
Sizzix dies can be found at JoAnn and A.C. Moore stores. Have you made any fun projects using the Sizzix machine? Upload your photos here!
xox,
Dena
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