Hunter's Design Studio

The Grand Mosque de Paris - so lovely to see all the intricate tile work and geometric design!

Pretty sweet tea room too!

Layers and layers of color in the flower beds, and an explosion of poppies like I’ve never seen before.

I’ve always been a bit ambivalent about visiting Monet’s Gardens at Giverny, but all this color made me a convert. Pro tip take the earliest time slots - fewer selfie sticks and duckface/peace sign poses to contend with 🐥💋✌️🤪

Second breakfast on a food tour in Paris- and proof of all the butter involved 🥐🥐🥐

Hand included for scale 🤪

Friends! This was such an INFORMATIVE chat! ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Teresa Duryea Wong joined me and we dug into some of the histories she delves into for her books. Mind blown several times.

Give it a listen!

Thank you for a wonderful visit and shopping! So many threads! So many ideas! And the sweetest welcome for the Embroidered Journey ladies!
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The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries.

Six tapestries depicting the Lady in a variety of situations that illustrate the five senses, and an ephemeral sixth sense.

Research hasn’t told us who she is… or if she is an ideal that’s supposed to be inspirational.

What ever her story is, she’s not selling me on the aristocratic life at all… don’t you think she looks pretty unhappy?

Lego Sam and Lego Beth had breakfast at Angelina’s tea room this morning!

The After hours tour at the Opera Garnier! Our guide William was the best - knowledge, humor, drama, theatre - highly recommended! The building is so beautiful, with so much history to share.

More from the Rijksmuseum… FOUR Vermeers.

I love Vermeer’s work - the instant in time, the depth of the blue, the bright yellow, the mystery and intrigue around all the letters the ladies were reading.

I don’t care if he used a camera obscura to lay down the bones - what he put over the bones is so lovely.

I always feel SO lucky to see art that has survived across the ages - any number of disasters and despots could have destroyed these works between when they were made and now. But here they are still, and what a gift it is to experience them.

Franz Hals at the Rijksmuseum… he sure knew how to capture a woman throwing a little side eye! 😒 even the little girl!

Check out his brushwork on all the lace tho!

On the pod today, the ever fun and wise Lucy Engels, talking about making the space for her art practice. She gave me SO much to think about in looking at how I manage mine!

Thank you Lucy!

HECK YEAH

Invader hunting this morning in Paris… I had heard about ‘s version of Miss Mona, but helped me find it!

Fewer crowds at this one too!

I love good street art, but this is just vandalism.

People come to Paris, this city of light and love, and their thanks is this - a cheap padlock with their names on it, with the key tossed in the river.

It’s a plague. It’s expensive to remove. It pollutes the river. It damages glorious old structures that have survived the test of time, revolution, and world wars - for what? The idea that locking your name on a bridge will make your relationship last forever?

If you want to leave something behind in Paris, buy something from a small business. Eat an extra croissant. Drop a euro to light a candle for a loved one (the money pays for the upkeep of the church).

Save the lock for your suitcase.

Imagine a menu full of really great salads.

Now imagine they all come with a steaming heap of fried garlicky potatoes on top.

Yep. THAT.

Current view: La grandmère of cathedrals, Notre Dame de Paris, and a festival of bread and pastries.

We’re traveling again!
1- waiting for the legendary PDX carpet to come back
2- mountain views
3- green skies from the aurora on the north side of the plane
4-a welcome cuppa with breakfast

NEW POD today! The lovely is next up for a chat - I love what she shared about her artistic process and the work she put into upstanding how to run a biz before she took the leap!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ and all the other places you listen.

A few thoughts for Mother’s Day:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends with kiddos: I honor you for showing up for the hardest job ever, and rocking it most days.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who mother and auntie other peoples’ kiddos: I honor you for the generosity of your love.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who mother solo: I honor your fine juggling skills.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who have lost a child: I honor that you are doing your best with the absolute worst thing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who wish they had kiddos: I honor your struggle and sadness, and hope your wish will come true.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who are thrilled to be childless: I honor your choice.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who have a great relationship with their mother: I honor and celebrate the blessings of such a bond.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends whose mother is gone: I honor the sadness of your loss, and the sweetness of your memories.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who have/had a difficult relationship with their mother: I honor the challenge and heartache.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who have had to “divorce” a toxic mother: I honor you, I see you, and I support you.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To my friends who are missing a child: I hope the day goes easy on your heart.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🧡 Sam⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
(card courtesy my son 🥰)

All the French knots today…

Hey! I have a new podcast for you! It's past of the Rev Craft Biz substack blog, and I'm talking to my friends and colleagues about this crazy craft industry we belong to! We also talk about a bunch of other things like creative process, fave book reccos, shout-outs to people doing cool stuff, and Star Wars vs Star Trek​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The first three episodes are up for you now, and they'll be coming mostly weekly thereafter!

Ep 1 is me talking about all this - hope you give it a listen!

My IG account has been having troubles so I'm waaaaay behind on sharing some of the lovely blocks my colleagues made for the Back To Nature QAL!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Thus far, we have a leaf, a mountain, a mushroom and a snail!

It's not too late to join - please hop to the link in my profile to sign up.... psst... my block is coming up next!

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A box full of , a needle case from my friend and a quiet hour of afternoon stitching to welcome in the weekend!

Another “Fourteen” pattern is sorted and ready to sew… anyone want to guess the shapes for this one?

Pssst… It has a cousin that’s been out for a while and is a best seller!

Week ONE of the Back To Nature QAL is underway, beginning with leaf 🍃pattern!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​I chose a simple palette for mine, but swipe to see some other ways to interpret it, especially if fussy cutting is one of your super-powers!

We're loving seeing everyone's blocks!
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Studio

Gardunia