Inspiration in NY

It was sweltering hot in New York this week. I arrived last weekend and planned on settling into the office to get some work done.
But after lugging my BIG BAG 60 lbs! art is not only messy it's heavy!
only to find a power outage (that means no elevator, much less air conditioning) on our block. I gladly accepted our superintendents' offer to hold the bag for me and come back Monday.
Free to wander, I found my way to The Conran Shop. Check this out; the lampshade and lacy curtain panels are made from velcro!

Love this concept: Imagine sitting under a patio umbrella made of yards and yards of hula skirting. Considering the weather, I got totally carried away envisioning a breeze and listening to the gentle swish of the hula-brella as I sipped my margaritta on the beach. They call it a frou frou parasol for a wowser $4000!

While waiting in the checkout line at Urban Outfitters I had time to admire the ingenious lighting . The cords and bulbs hang from a metal grid, sort of like a metal matress frame. Would love to do this at Quilt Market if only we weren't restricted to an 8 ft.(special cases 10ft) height restriction. The assemblage art is pretty cool too, very Louise Nevelson .
Next stop; my all time favorite inspiration retailer ABC Carpet and Home. An incredible landmark building with stunning displays taking advantage of it's HIGH ceilings.
rough cut work with sequin stitched accents.
this was actually upholstered in a cotton knit with the muslin flowers loosely stitched on.
Beautiful metal sculpted branch chandelier. Hmmmmm..... I see lots of branches in our next booth.........
fantasy dreamland
Don't know where or what I'd do with these opalized glass balls but I might have to splurge and find out.
That's it for now, gotta get some work done. stay tuned though, next stop the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn!

Fabric 2.O reflections

If you were wondering why I haven't blogged about Portland Quilt Market yet, it's because I was barely there and have very few pictures to show for it (forgot the camera!). I arrived a few days before the show and left for my sons' graduation when the show started. It was a jam packed time of booth set-up, schoolhouse presentation, sales meeting, sample spree and our first ever bloggers' get together. This was Caroline Devoy of jcaroline creatives' brainchild and I was happy to co-conspire.
The concept of getting to connect "faces" with the bloggers in our industry was great fun. Lucky for me everyone else turned up with camera in hand (but of course, that's what bloggers do) and took plenty of pictures.
But the real reason I'm writing about this is an article I just read in the Wall Street Journal, Social Networking in the Digital Age It brings up an interesting point; blogging doesn't replace human interaction it actually encourages it. I'll be interested to hear what all of you kindred spirits out there in blog land think of it.
Then check out the list of speakers at The D Conference; all things digital
I'd love to be one of the lucky 600 people in the audience!

p.s. I know I glossed over quilt market, don't get the wrong idea. I'll be covering lot's of cool stuff from the show in upcoming posts!

Designing Spaces room makeover

Here's what I did with my spare time (not!) before Quilt Market! Flew down to Florida to do a special baby segment for the DIY show: Designing Spaces. Three days of design, install and film for 12 minutes of film!

Thanks to the help of my talented sister Mindy and the top notch crew from Designing Spaces it all came together.

It seems it always comes back to food, in this case the camera crew fuels up on coffee and donuts patiently waiting for the next stage in the makeover.

camera tips from a pro

Collette the expectant Mommy (very patient as we invaded her home!) me, and Debbie Marie the hostess with the mostess (there's a reason they refer to her on set as the talent!)

The secret ingredient for all of this is liquid starch and of course fabric!
My sister Mindy is the one that taught me all that can be done with starch. She covered her bathroom walls, then 3 kids and 10 yrs later she took it down (in 15 minutes!). That's the beauty of it; so easy to remove and it doesn't harm the walls. Perfect for rentals, dorm rooms, furniture. Note the hanging lampshade: EASY! No more spray adhesives and toxic fumes.
simply cover the surface with undiluted starch, smooth the fabric over the surface then apply another coat, thoroughly soaking. Smooth out air bubbles with a paintbrush or my preferred method; fingers (if you liked finger painting you'll love this).

And just for fun

Check out this great crib sheet tutorial from Joanna of Stardust Shoes fame.

Baby Bootie Contest

Yooohooo!!!!!!!!!!! Anybody still out there???? I know it's been a long while since I've checked in, but I'm back and have good news to boot! Booties that is!

Check out the details of the Baby Bootie Contest we've sponsored in Craft Magazine!

The Winner, Winner, Winner, Winner, Winner, Winner

Greetings friends! (This is still Sandi, not Kathy!) I will tell you all she is doing well, just busy running around the country for one reason or another. :) She'll be back soon.

So the hijack was fun, after so many people wanted in on the free fabric, we decided to give away a little more than 2 stacks. Kathy is chipping in and SIX (woo hoo!) winners were drawn. I decided to do something a little creative and picked every 50th comment. So commenters 1, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 will win a fat quarter collection from Ginger Blossom. If one of these are your comments, please email me at portabellopixie@aol.com with your address and I'll get your fabric to you!

And BTW-thank you so much for the enthusiasm! We love the collection and are thrilled that everyone else is excited by it too!


CraftAddictConfessional said:
Sandi, you are a nut! LOL! Can't wait to get my hands on some Ginger Blossom -- and the next great things to come from you and MM, too!

Judy b said:
I love that little dress. and what a great idea the inspiration section is.

Caroline said:
Ever since I saw your fabric I have been dying to get my hands on some. I even posted on my blog about it and french friends keep asking me when it finally comes into stores!

K*dunc said:
i love love love your fabric! please, please, please, me me me!

Melanie said:
Oh - I wish you could hear my son's wicked laugh. I think he perfected it at 18 months...maybe 2 years!

the winns said:
I love your fabric. I can't wait to get some and start sewing for my 3 girls!

Blog Hijack

If you read this blog, then you are a fan of Michael Miller fabrics or Kathy Miller. Well. (Insert first of wicked giggles here.) This is not Kathy Miller. (Insert second, more slightly wild wicked giggle here.) I have HIJACKED Kathy's blog! (Insert wild, out of control cackle here Muaa haa haaa!)

This is Sandi Henderson of Portabellopixie. And before you call the blog police, Kathy has asked me to fill in today and guest write. But I'm going to pretend she doesn't know about it because it's more fun that way. ;)

Let's see, so I am supposed to talk about me. Well, in case you aren't bored to your gourd from reading about me on my blog, then here is the scoop! I am a lisenced designer for Michael Miller Fabrics. My first line, Ginger Blossom is just about to hit stores. In the next few weeks everyone will be able to play with it!

Working with Kathy and everyone at Michael Miller has been so wonderfully rewarding that we decided to start right into a second line after the artwork for Ginger Blossom was completed. That second line will debut in May and will be in stores shortly after that. So there will be lots to play with in the next little bit!

My background is in children's clothing design, and along with the second line of fabric, we will be releasing our first line of sewing patterns. The line consists of 4 patterns for boutique children's clothing. What is boutique clothing? To me it means super cute and very well contructed, while still being wearable! Here is a sneak peek of one of the patterns to be released this May at Quilt Market. These patterns will go beyond a regular "how to" in that each one will have an inspiration section that will really show how to make the most of the pattern. Dozens of beautiful photography to dazzle and delight. Crafting and sewing are again becoming cool and sewing for children is a huge part of that!

Let's see, before I go, how about I give away some fabric? We had a little giveaway over in my land recently and only one person got to win, so I'll spread a little textile love over here too. Leave a comment and TWO (whoa) people will win a fat quarter of each print from Ginger Blossom. From me to you. Just don't tell Kathy I hijacked her blog or we won't get to do this again. shhhh.. muahh ha ha (You should totally give the wicked laugh a try, it's good for the sould every now and then.)

Oven Mitts - Puppet Style

Is it an oven mitt? a puppet? It's both....in one pattern from the talented Joanna of StardustShoes!

Wishing you Joy in the New Year

Here we are, the Michael Miller gang all together for some holiday fun and games; scavenger hunt and a race to the restaurant , followed by the "Jeopardy" version of "How well do you know your co-worker?"Afterwards I decided to do a little night shopping and came upon this behind the NY Public Library in Bryant Park.............

beautiful tree, eh?
.....take a closer look....

a zillion donuts...hee...hee... heeee!

all set up to promote "The Simpson Movie" coming out on DVD

the whole family turned out

complete with a skating rink in Bryant Park.....yep.....you never know what you'll stumble upon in NYC

Shanghai - New York - home!

I'm back home in California now. I've been living out of a suitcase since Quilt Market, the end of Oct. Don't get me wrong I love the travel and it's all been invaluable. But as we all know; "there's no place like home". Sorting through and catching up after the holidays. I'll be bringing you all up to date albeit belatedly .

Here's some pics of my time in Shanghai.......amazing city...........
shopping in "Old Town"

Had a foot massage (heavenly) and an"ear massage" (wonderful). While I was on the massage table for the ear massage an ear candle was shown to me and the next thing I knew there I was lying on my side with a lit candle in my ear! Had to Google it later to find out what that was about! No harm done, but I don't think I 'll be doing that again!

Ducks on a rack

Barbecued duck feet

Here I am in Korea

Greetings from Seoul! I've been moving around a lot. Trying to keep up with all my computer gadgets and cameras. Dropped my camera the other day and am now relying on my i phone . yes, I am now an i phone devotee:)

Ancient culture in the midst of modern Seoul


Nothing like spicy Korean barbecue to warm you up on a cold December day!


Trees lit up for the holidays.



Christmas lights around the skating rink in the center of Seoul.



Starbucks is everywhere in Asia, but so are the pretenders - this made me chuckle!



A little local flavor with your Latte'