My First Webinar for Window Coverings University !!!

Tomorrow at 4:00 pm (EST) is my first webinar for Window Coverings University! It's the first segment in an eight part series I'm doing on - what else ? - window treatment design!

In this first segment, I'll be covering the basic design fundamentals and showing you how to apply them to create cutting edge designs that are appropriate for today's windows.

If you are interested in learning about window treatment design you can purchase the course and participate in the live webinar or link to the recorded session at your convenience.

My class is:

Unit B-233-1 Drapery Design Fundamentals for Today's Windows

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Smart Draw - Am I The Last To Know?

Sometimes I feel like I am the last one to know when something super cool is invented that can make my life easier. Maybe it's just that everyone who has found out about it is hording that knowledge to keep it for themselves! I doubt that is the case with this absolutley fabulous software considering they claim to have sold 10 million copies and counting!


Smart Draw is for lack of a better description - drawing, drafting, form building, chart drawing, life organizing, software on steroids, built for dummies (another reason I love it). If it can be put on paper this program can help you do it easily, with a click of a button.

I was looking for a simple software program to help me create professional looking forms for my new book and I came across Smart Draw through a Google search.


I was immediately impressed by the number of things it claimed to do so I opted for the free trial download. Now I know what you're thinking! Here comes the horrific process of entering in all of your information short of your personal DNA strand and your tax return. I hit download and a message popped up on the screen - Your download is complete! Shock - Disbelief - it was the easiest thing I have ever done online! Seriously!!!


The trial version gives you ten free uses - but by the time I had used three of them it was obvious to me that I could not live without it and I had to buy. Again, I steeled myself for the process. I was prompted to enter my name and cc info. Then again, to my amazement, I was done. My purchase complete. I have never encountered a product that was so easy to try out and buy. I can't tell you how impressed I was with their trial & purchase system.


The same can be said for the program itself. It does everything - and I am not exaggerating. You can draw maps - design storefronts and retail layouts, closets, kitchens, make calendars, forms, charts, graphs, time lines. I only wish I had found it years ago - my life would have been much simpler. Check it out - the free trial is easy and painless.

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Valentines - Birthdays & Big Ben

Happy love everything and everyone day! Time for romance, red teddy bears, stale chocolate and really bad roses that only last half a day.

Normally, I would be complaining that my birthday and Valentines day are one in the same and they are lumped together as one event at my house cheating me out of one holiday a year.


This year though, my fabulous husband is taking me to London for a week so I can celebrate my advancing old age in style. I'll have two days on my own while he is working so I plan to do some design sightseeing. Anyone have some suggestions for sources to visit?

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I'm a Rat

It's the year of the Rat according to the Chinese calendar just as it was many moons ago in 1960 on the day I was born. Rats are ambitious but honest, prone to spend freely. Seldom make lasting friendships. They are most compatible with Dragons and Monkeys and least with horses ( good thing my husband is a Dog) .

Chinese fortune tellers predict financial and political rumblings, tsunamis and epidemics in the year ahead.

The reason, they say, is that water and earth — two of the five elements Chinese mystics believe are at the root of all things — are in conflict in 2008.

The Hotels and resorts in Vegas do it up big for the New Year to impress their Chinese big spenders ( although they call them whales, but I don't know if whales and rats get along) . The Bellagio conservatory puts on a spectacular floral display complete with a six foot tall rat.




To all my fellow rats out there - here's hoping no one moves your cheese in 2008 !!!

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House Beautiful & The Design Directory of Window Treatments

I've hit the big time - House Beautiful knows I'm alive !!!!!! I was so thrilled to find out the they have highlighted my book on their website.

They say " Everything you ever wanted to know about window treatments and then some. Serious truth in advertising here. This is a design directory (and handbook, dictionary, encyclopedia, etc. )"
"Jackie Von Tobel doesn't want you to just look out the windows -- she wants you to dress them up!"

Forgive me for my shameless self promotion but I am just so excited. In all of my years as a designer I never envisioned my name being associated with House Beautiful.. I have to say this is one of the great perks of writing a book!!!!! Now I just have to cross my fingers and see if they put me in the Magazine. Maybe I should write them several hundred anonymous emails suggesting that they highlight my book in the next issue! You never know - it might work!

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Window Jewelry

No, you can't pin it to your lapel or dangle it around your neck, it is jewelry for your window treatments!!! This spectacular drapery hardware line, The Saturday Decor, is producing Swarvoski encrusted jewels for those designers who are not afraid of opulence.

Tiebacks


Drapery Pins

Scarf Holders

They also have a line of very beautiful, non-encrusted hardware that would work in almost any setting for those of us who are not so fond of the glitz and glam of Austrian crystal!

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Back From Baltimore

I just got back from the annual Exciting Windows conference in Baltimore, the home of fellow blogger Meg, from PigTown Designs. She very kindly met me at my hotel and took me on a fascinating tour of her lovely hometown.



She has deep family ties to the area and she toured me through her childhood neighborhood which was breathtaking! Baltimore seems to be a city that is being revitalized within. Older once neglected neighborhoods are now filled with new businesses and refurbished homes. Meg showed me several old mills and factories that have been converted into art galleries and centers for local artisans to make and show their wares. You must visit her blog so you can see more of her city.


The conference I attended was held at the Tremont Grand, an Masonic temple built in the 1800'2 and restored to it's original glory. Each room was stunning with intricate woodwork, plaster detailing and imported marble. If you ever make it to Baltimore you should take a few minutes and go see it in person.


Thanks again to Meg for giving me the grand tour. She is a lovely, charming and talented girl who has led a fascinating life here in the states and abroad. She is a fundraiser, a foodie and a dog lover but she's not above having a beer with a semi-stranger and cheering on her favorite basketball team!!

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