LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Can you feel it? Now that the inauguration is behind us, it's time to bring on the next holiday - one of my favorites - St. Valentine's Day. No, I'm not a candy lover, although I do love those fancy boxes they come in, and I'm not much for a bouquet, although I wouldn't turn my nose up at it either, ;) but I do love all those pretty Valentine decorations. I remember when my son was three years old and attending pre-school - it was his first Valentine party, and, of course, all the children were to bring in Valentines for each other. Well, I thought, great, let's make some. Looking back on it, I'm sure I forced him into it, and probably did most of the work myself, but we created our own cards with red paper hearts, doilies, stickers, the works. They were beautiful and I was really proud of them. I certainly never thought that we, I mean he would be the only one to make his own. I'll never forget his teacher's comment: "Oh, I didn't think anyone did that anymore". What have we come to?!! Well, I've never forced him to do it since then. Always went out and purchased those icky boxed things. And, yes, Frannie likes the boxed ones too (how can I compete with Angelina Ballerina - this year's choice - Polly Pocket or even Hello Kitty?). But all is not lost, Frannie also makes handmade Valentines for those people who deserve something special. Just her classmates get the store-bought ones (although we always include a special treat for her class (I'll show you that in a later Valentine post). I still make my own Valentines too, and I hope to send some to a few of you out there.

So let's spread some

Won't you

Valentine?

(I made those two giant conversation hearts a while back, and each year they sit outside the door of my husband's business, Franklin Philip Salon. And, yes, I hand-painted those letters - we're not talking decals here.)

S.W.A.K.

I almost forgot...

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

John Paul Young

Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound

And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes

(Chorus)
Love is in the air
Love is in the air
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

Go here to see entire lyrics.

Oh, yes, I'm going to try and do a lot of postings leading up to Valentine's day - some projects I've created, some things that are just pink or red, or anything else that just says Valentine to me. Of course, I'm planning to put up a different song each post too. ;)

IT STARTS EARLIER EVERY YEAR!

Have you noticed how many Christmas decorations are in the stores and how many places you can hear holiday music already? The thought of it sends shivers down my spine! I feel as if I should be in panic mode! But wait, it's only November 6th, right? Well, I wouldn't want to be known as a party pooper, so I'm going to throw in a little holiday decor myself. These are two signs I painted a few years ago (I must admit, it's not an original design, and I don't even know who to give credit to, but it's a pattern I saved from quite a while back - maybe a BH&G Christmas magazine?). My husband, Frank, cut the patterns out of wood for me, and then I transferred the design on and painted. I like them because they're different - they give you that old time Christmas feeling. During the holiday season, these two Victorian greeters are placed at the entrance of the Franklin Philip Hair Salon - NO, not yet. :)

Speaking of the Franklin Philip Hair Salon, let me give you a peek inside (outside too).

My husband and his brother are partners and own the Franklin Philip Hair Salon. These are a few photos of their newest salon. It was designed by me and I'm pretty happy with the results. It's located in one of the busiest locations of Norwalk, CT. The salon is right next door to Stew Leonard's (and if you're familiar with the "World's Largest Dairy Store", you know what I mean by busy!). Their other neighbor is Starbuck's - get the picture?

Have you ever worked with Gallery Glass? Well, I have, several times, and it's quite an amazing product. This is the door to the salon's office. After purchasing a French door, I planned a design to fit within the glass panes. The idea was to be able to see out the door, but still have privacy. Gallery Glass was the perfect solution. I even worked the initials of the salon into the center glass panels. This product looks real - I can't tell you how many people come up and touch it and still believe it is true stained glass! It was a lot of fun to work with too - especially if you can work on a horizontal surface - luckily, I was able to work on the door before it was installed.

Do you see the words on the walls? Well, I hand painted those too (okay, not all of them, just the one that says "Salon"). I got smart after doing the first one - found out you could have decals made - just do up your words on the computer (I used Illustrator), pick out your font, and e-mail to the sign maker. Voila! Then the only difficult part is making sure you put it up straight on the wall - you only get one shot at it, so you better get it right! I think it turned out pretty well. And, if I do say so myself, if I hadn't already told you, I think you'd have a pretty hard time figuring out which one had been painted and which were decals! Okay, I'm bragging. :)

I don't have pictures of everything, but you get the idea. If you're ever in the area, stop by to say "Hello". Tell Frank "Cute Stuff Inside" sent you. I'm sure he'd treat you to a cup of coffee!

S.W.A.K.