Live from London - Timourous Beaties

Hi everyone - we're having a great time in London! Here's a quick post of designs from one of my favorite new British vendors - Timorous Beasties

Fabrics, Wallpapers, Rugs and Pillows - they produce them all. Including bespoke custom designs. Check out their portfolio on their website.

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Leaving on a Jet Plane - London Edition

The hubby and I are jetting off for eight luxurious days in London, away from work, doing nothing but trend spotting, sightseeing, and window shopping ( no real shopping thanks to the horrid exchange rate for our poor beat up dollar right now and my hubby does have to work three of those days but what the hell - we'll be in London! )



I'll be thinking of you all while I'm sipping my Champagne cocktail at The Savoy (old school, I know, but it's a tradition)

See you in March - Cheerio .............

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Design Star - Season Three

They're gearing up early for season three of Design Star on HGTV by allowing viewers to choose between two designers to pick one to capture the last remaining spot in this years cast. From now until March 3rd you can log online and vote for your choice between these two show hopefuls. Scroll underneath the picture of each designer and click on "portfolio". You'll be treated to a brief overview of work done by each girl.

This bedroom design belongs to DS would-be-contestant Stephanie Cook.

Here is a living room done by her new arch rival Kim Lewis

You can also view each contestants audition video so you can check out their uber-perky personality and determine their TVQ levels along with that elusive IT factor. Personally I feel very sorry for these poor girls. The other cast members have been selected on their merits but the producers have chosen to toy with these poor, celeb-seeking, I want my fifteen minutes of fame, debutants in order to capture some pre-show ratings build up. It is really going to suck to be the loser on this gig.

Good Luck Girls

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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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