Cori Rowley

Kick Off.

2011-08-11T10:02:00.004-04:00

I've been busy boys and girls.

very. very. very. busy.

But I'm going to give you a sneak peak of one of the things I've been working on. My Website. Yes, Yes, I know, I have a blog, but I need a website to display my work. My real work, you know the stuff.

You all have seen my Benni Wares, but you haven't really been given a view into my world of product design. After all, it's what I do - so you should be invited.

*Ohhh look at the beauty with that sexy waistline...Oh yeah kids - this is my handiwork!

So kick off your shoes, grab a good craft brew and enjoy the show - or at least the preview.

www.corirowley.com

Yellowood WOOD Shirts

2011-08-02T08:43:00.004-04:00

You can be the proud owner of one of these shirts! $20.00 gets you the T-Shirt and $50.00 gets you the Zipper Hoodie! These lovelies are simply to spread the word about our design services and creative goodness!

I'll post soon about how you can order them!

*Cheers*

Yellowood

2011-01-07T16:45:00.006-05:00

Well it's taken me an entire month, but I've decided to post again! December was a very crazy month for me and for the Yellowood Design Studio crew. Big projects, new projects, marketing ourselves...not to mention the holidays!

So what is Yellowood? Here's a taste.

www.yellowoodesign.com

full site coming soon!
pictures of our work and current projects coming soon!

How They're Held Together

2010-12-07T20:57:00.002-05:00

It is a common question I get - How are they held together?
Well my friend, they are sculpted into shape, then a take the "tails" of the crochet chain and wrap it around all of the layers in the back. I then tie it off and weave the ends back under the wrapped section. If that confused the heck out of you, as I'm sure I was making no sense at all. See the picture above for a visual of the "wrapped" section of the scarves.

Yellowood Design Studio

2010-12-04T08:40:00.007-05:00

Yes. I do something other than make scarves.

In fact - I'm a product designer/trend analyst/web graphics designer/social media "persona" by day (real job), scarf maker by night/weekend (benni wares) and a freelance creative the rest of the time (YELLOWOOD DESIGN STUDIO).

In fact, there's even a Yellowood website - but we're too busy with clients to focus on our selves entirely. So currently it is a splash page - www.yellowoodesign.com

Our work is dedicated to the business starter, the small business owner, the creatively driven and the big yet humble businesses. We believe that everyone deserves a designer's touch, and everyone's business can be greatly effected by clever creativity. We offer re-branding services, store design, web development, social media "boot camps" and...several other things (sorry Dr. Nina Deep, I had to poke at your commercials).

The most recent window display that we did for Europia Wine & Spirits (Short North, Columbus, Ohio). We did a major overhaul which took almost a full day.

Phase I - ripping out old display configurations, what seemed like 800 nails and screws, removed decade old vinyls, reconfigured in-window wire and signage mounting, heavy cleaning and repainting.

Phase II - Waiting for paint to dry....

Phase III -
Installing bow walls - which included over 900 Holiday Bows. Most of which were reused and found in various "Christmas Hoarders" stashes.
Putting in the "Survival Kits" - the survival kits are crates which we've re-purposed, we used water based spray paint to apply the stencil letters "SURVIVAL KIT" to their front and backs. We then used a torch to "antique them" (this also kept us nice and toasty warm). The survival kits are now filled with beer, liquor, red bull, cigars and other things necessary to make it through the season of "family and cheer."
Bottle Sweaters - The bottle sweaters are made out of left over holiday fabric, old sweaters and shirts. We think they each have their own personality, much like those at the holiday dinner table. We sprinkled them about the windows adding some depth and interest to the floor space.
Present Time! - We also place various "goodies" around the base of the survival kit. These gifts range from tacky sweater to pheasant adorned ties. You might also find a fruit cake or two...
Family Pictures - This is where it gets really good. We've installed several non-flattering images from Christmas past. There's even one very special image of the proprietor of Europia Wine & Spirits, can you find it?
Sparkle - Of course, what would an American Holiday be without a little tinsel? So there's tinsel on the ceiling, a tinsel tree. We've also installed LED versions of retro Christmas lights.
Vinyls - The window is completed with bold white vinyls "SURVIVE the Holidays"

The SURIVAL KIT - must have.

Prior to present installation

Fin.

So - With all that said, be sure to stop by the 2010 Holiday Hop TONIGHT! Saturday Dec. 4!

www.shortnorth.org

I believe there's a "people choice" award.

BLACK FRIDAY BENNI SALES

2010-11-26T07:03:00.005-05:00

BLACK FRIDAY BENNI SALES!!!!

CUSTOM ORDERS 2 for $50.00 -> ORDER NOW!!!

ETSY ORDERS are 20% OFF FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY
ENTER BLACKFRIDAYBENNI @ CHECKOUT!!! -> SHOP NOW!!!

**are you following the benni wares on facebook? you ought to!**

NEW ETSY POSTINGS

2010-11-17T17:47:00.002-05:00

the fighting benni

2010-11-01T23:10:00.004-04:00

this benni is for a fighter.
this benni is perfectly warm.
this benni is benni no. 047.
this benni is red with love.
this benni is for mark.

i love you mark. we all love you.

you don't know this -
but when you requested this benni,
it lifted me up,
on a day that was going all wrong.
thank you.
dearly yours,
Cori

etsy push

2010-10-31T16:02:00.002-04:00

benni wares fall shoot

2010-10-30T11:59:00.010-04:00

family loves benni wares

2010-10-27T07:11:00.005-04:00

My lovely Momma and her sisters rockin' the benni wares!!

It was such a beautiful day on Sunday. We spent the afternoon in Mt. Vernon with family, while my Aunt Betty was up from Florida. It was so wonderful seeing everyone!

All three ladies are now proud owners of bamboo angora benni wares!

biz cards

2010-10-21T06:56:00.002-04:00

benni ware business cards coming soon!

ordered this morning! now you can push the bennis too! i've had so many requests for stacks of cards for customers to pass out to friends, so HERE YOU GO!!!!!

bye bye big bennis

2010-10-15T06:08:00.006-04:00

Oh boy! All the big boys are sold that I had posted! Adios big guys! Oh how I just adore the big fluffy benni wares!

You recently purchased a benni ware?Share your photos on the benni wares facebook page!!!

In Honor of Tyler. Wear PURPLE.

2010-10-11T19:19:00.007-04:00

In Honor of Tyler Clementi the world is being charged with wearing PURPLE on October 20th 2010 to show love and support of LGBT youth.

We as a global community need to stand together for LGBT. Whether you like it or not, these people are our brothers, sisters, cousins, sons, daughters, neighbors...

These chastised individuals deserve the chance to be themselves. Weather you are gay or straight, you ought to wear PURPLE on the 20th.

Your support means so much to so many. When we stand together we are stronger, and we are certainly better.

Let the friends and family of Tyler Clementi see your support - visit the facebook page -- In Honor of Tyler Clementi

I'm selling 20 PURPLE benni wares for 20 DOLLARS for OCTOBER 20th. You can grab them on Etsy or fill out a custom order form with your info and just put TYLER BENNI in all of the info fields.
**ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN**
Even if you don't buy a benni - wear purple. Take a picture of your purple wear and post it to the benni facebook page - I'll make a special October 20th album.

facebook page

2010-10-10T09:55:00.004-04:00

all the cool kids are following the benni wares. are you?

OSU benni

2010-10-08T22:01:00.007-04:00

I'm so happy that one of the OSU bennis finally sold! A lovely friend from church purchased one today!
benni number 010 - bon voyage you scarlet and gray beauty!

Dear Lisa,
Thank you kindly!
You helped make my Friday fabulous!
Love, Cori

In honor of this benni I will share a picture from my very first OSU game (just a couple of weekends ago believe it or not!)
**In case you don't know what's going on here: At the end of OSU games the Football Team sings the Alma mater to the Student Section (Carmen Ohio). Touching.

Eggplant!!

2010-10-08T21:42:00.006-04:00

I was so very excited when I heard that Taylor (a fellow CCAD alum (Industrial Design)) "LOVES" the benni wares! I'm even more excited that this benni is being shipped to Connecticut in the morning! I'm kind of jealous that it gets to go there, I've never been!

PEACE OUT benni number 030!

Guess what? ANOTHER purple benni ware! She ordered a custom benni in EGGPLANT!

See that??? Yeah that right there! Up there!! Click it and you can customize a benni too. Don't like making that many decisions - don't worry that's why I have an Etsy shop!

benni trend of the week: PURPLE

2010-10-07T18:46:00.006-04:00

Dear Friends -
I love you dearly. I'm so glad you love the benni wares. Each one is made with love!

Spread the word about the benni wares!

A couple of weeks ago I was selling gray bennis like wildfire, this week it's PURPLE! The orders seem to come in waves of coordinating color...

This one is for Sheri, a very dear friend of mine, who I've posted about in past. This was a custom order as well!

Adios benni number 029!

Want a benni ware? Never fear you can order via ETSY or CUSTOM ORDER!

Love from JHS

2010-10-07T06:45:00.002-04:00

Over the past two days I've sold three benni wares to former Jackson Highschool (Massillon, Ohio) cheerleaders. Believe it or not, this art nerd used to cheer!

This picture is from 2004, it also does not have the person who bought benni 001 in it... Sorry Alyssa, I don't have any old cheer pics on my computer, I had to "borrow" this one from an undisclosed facebook profile. But THANK YOU ALYSSA! THANK YOU BRITTANY!

HOWEVER I wanted to just say thank you to the lovely ladies who I used to cheer with for the awesome support they've given! Someday when I'm a well known scarf designer (ha!) I will take us all out for cocktails!

Special Benni Surprise!

2010-10-06T17:16:00.004-04:00

An old friend just ordered 2 custom benni wares which got put in the mail this morning! The one above for her and the other...well it's a surprise - I'll show you it later!

Order a customer benni too!

Custom Orders

2010-10-03T22:01:00.004-04:00

Custom order benni's have been a real hit lately.

Any color you'd like, and length, any type of yarn.

Allergic to acrylic yarn? Don't worry I can get you wool, cotton, or even bamboo.

Want something extra special? I'm a big fan of angora and alpaca yarns.

Let me know what you're thinking and you could have custom orders like this lucky customer!

Most custom orders can still be managed at the benni wares standard price of $35.00 (plus s&h where applicable)

2010 AIA Awards

2010-10-03T09:04:00.005-04:00

Benjamin and I at the Glass Pavilion, pre-awards party.
(Yes that's a benni ware around my neck and yes you can buy it.
It's made of bamboo silk yarn just send me a custom order
and say AIA benni in the comments)

We recently were in attendance at the 2010 Ohio AIA Awards. They were held in Toledo at the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art.

My husband's firm was honored with the AIA Ohio Gold Medal Firm Award. A special congratulations to George Acock (founder) for his excellence in the field.

"This year the AIA Ohio Gold Medal Firm award, which represents and honors firms that have consistently demonstrated high level design over an extended period, to the firm Acock Associates Architects from Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1967, Acock Associates Architects have sought to combine creative design, functional planning and sound tectonics in measured balance to create enduring architecture.
The firm, which has been instrumental in the revitalization of the arena district has also worked closely with Limited Brands since the mid -70s, and includes most recently the new offices and distribution center for Tween Brands.

Today, the firm employs 13 registered architects/planners, 7 Cadd Technicians, a professional artist and three administrators. Firm Founder George Acock participates in the design of each Acock Associates project. The firm has received 16 citations for excellence in commercial facility design from state, local and national organizations. George Acock also taught at the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University." - AIA Ohio

www.acock.com for information on the firm.

Thank You Hillary!

2010-09-30T18:06:00.006-04:00

Picture was taken by Hillary of Chick's Picks by Hillary, who I met at the Country Living Fair Last Week! I'll be writing about her and all of the other lovely people I met there for work next week! You can follow her work on facebook as well! FACEBOOK

Oh! In other good news it's been a great week for the benni's!
My hubby's sister just bought one today as well!
Hopefully she'll send pictures of her rockin' her teal benni in Chi-town!

benni trend of the week: GRAY

2010-09-24T07:27:00.003-04:00

Whoa buddy! Selling through all my gray benni wares this week!
Must be to wear with scarlet colored shirts!
Sorry I'm not usually a scarlet and gray buck-nut, but I'm going to my very first OSU game this weekend! Can't wait!

Dreamers into Doers! Hooray!

2010-09-21T18:43:00.004-04:00

Check it out! Check it out! Check it out!

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's a beautiful day in OH-IO!

hmmm look what I found...

2010-09-20T22:53:00.004-04:00

Sorry you can't have this one! It was a custom order for a dear friend...however you could definitely tell me what color and style you want and I'll do my best to get you a benni ASAP.

Custom order a benni ware! This kind has caught a lot of attention around here (Central OH-IO), as it gets craaaazy cold very soon. It may be 87 degrees today but it could certainly snow next week!

bye bye benni no. 021

2010-09-20T22:22:00.004-04:00

Off to Dallas he goes! "Amy Orange" benni no. 021 is off to Lone Star State! Hooooray!

Custom Order Them!

2010-09-20T18:16:00.001-04:00

Hey Look! Yeah ---- Over there ---->
You can custom order your benni ware now!!!

Just gimme some info, put your needs in the message box and I'll send you an invoice with how long it'll take and the price/shipping details!

Who knows! You could have a benni ware to sport at that big party you're planning on crashing!

004 and 019 sold!

2010-09-18T22:07:00.009-04:00

two benni wares walked out the door today!
to a lovely customer i might add!
benni 004 and benni 019 adios my friends!

benni 020 and benni 008 also left the nest thursday.

which benni will be yours?!

buy one from the etsy shop or custom order one (e-mail me with your wishes)!

strutting the benni wares

2010-09-17T20:44:00.007-04:00

BUY THE NEWBIES
BUY THE NEWBIES
BUY THE NEWBIES

GO BENNIS GO!

2010-09-07T18:22:00.006-04:00

BUY THEM ALL! <--- CLICK THAT!!!

They're up! The bennis are loaded on Etsy!
Just eight for now. To see how they do!

Reminder - I do customer order requests too!
cori.rowley@gmail.com

benni wares for ALL!

2010-09-06T21:03:00.005-04:00

Well - The benni wares are getting geared up to get boxed up and shipped out to benni ware lovers world wide! If you want one you can either just shoot me and e-mail and we'll arrange it personally or you can buy via the Etsy page.

I'll be working out all of my shipping details tomorrow and posting about 8-10 unclaimed benni's tomorrow evening.

If you have a favorite color, or you like a certain weight of yarn I can do custom orders as well.

I hope you are just as excited as I am for these beauties to be set free into the world!

benni wares coming to an Etsy near you!

2010-09-05T08:27:00.001-04:00

Oh boy - oh boy! I'm getting geared up to fill up my Etsy store with benni wares this coming week! Get excited! One of these beauties could be yours very soon! $35.00 ain't too bad for such a pretty piece of decoration! Read more...

Ashly

2010-08-28T08:46:00.001-04:00

On my birthday this year a friend from college was going through a traumatic experience. I found out yesterday.

Pray for her. Pray for her family. Pray for Casey. Pray for her friends. Pray for the doctors and nurses and specialists. Pray to God that she has strength and love.

________________________________________________________________

"Ashly Hunt suffered stroke-like symptoms while at Ocean City, MD Sunday July 4th. She was flown by Shock Trauma from Atlantic General to University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore late Sunday night. She is stable, conscience & aware, and feels no pain. We have been told that Ashly was born with a congenital anomaly called benign cavernous lesions in her brain. To my understanding, this sounds like a patch of blood vessels on her brain that would not normally be there. She has several patches and in this instance, the patch on her brain stem reptured. So, technically she did not have a stroke. Ashly had a cerebral hemorrhage, but her symptoms are the exact same as if she did have a stroke."

________________________________________________________________

ashlystatus.com

For Your Entertainment!

2010-08-27T19:02:00.001-04:00

Toto, a family friend, used to go to open gym with me at a local gymnastics center.
I am especially entertained by his inability to spell my name correctly!

Drama Queen and King

2010-07-28T21:26:00.002-04:00

Ben and I can't help but take silly pictures. We just don't know how to take serious photos! I'm so glad I found these. We took these in early spring at our old place downtown. A whole series of these ridiculous photos exists on our computer...

Sketch of Sculpture

2010-07-28T21:22:00.002-04:00

Visit the inspiration at Four in 52 - the other mess of a blog I run.

2010-07-25T09:20:00.002-04:00

Boston or Bust

2010-07-24T19:10:00.002-04:00

I recently went to Boston for work. I spent my time in Harvard Square, pretending to be well educated and an experienced craft brew drinker. I ordered myself up a "Black Fly Stout" from Tory Row, a swanky little place, where you sit on stools designed by Starck. Everyone wear boat shoes and ride bicycles. They drink beer and don't wash their hair. Ok..not everyone - but quite a few. With that all said, I fell in love with the area, and decided to share some photos with you. So you can experience the square yourself.

After the Square we went off to Sportello - an oh so fabulous restaurant where I ate the most delicious duck gnocchi and drank the smoothest Cabernet ever.

Blogger's new "fancy" photo upload system has pissed me off today - so my pictures are all unorganized. Sorry readers.

Anywho - there's some photos from out of the window on the flight from Cleveland to Cbus, which I think I'll do a painting of at some point.

Caution: Artistic Things Happening

2010-07-24T09:03:00.002-04:00

I come from a family of artists and art lovers. My cousin had asked a while back that we do a painting for him, so Ben decided to get to it this past spring. Click the photos to make larger. I'll put up a Picasa Album later.

The painting was done in acrylic, fabric dyes and India ink. Ben uses a technique which involves throwing paint, using his hands and blowing on ink across a very saturated canvas.

Subject matter was inspired by the magnolia tree which was in full bloom at the time in front of our old house downtown.

If you're wondering: Our neighbor Jon stopped by, Gracie tried to get in the paint, the smoke is from cigars not some catastrophy, and the final picture was taken the next day.

Want more of Ben's artwork? Well too bad it's not online yet - but his portfolio of professional design work is on his website - www.benrowley.com

Back at it.

2010-07-14T07:31:00.001-04:00

On the hunt for some more freelance work. I guess I'm a work-a-holic. Is that so bad? So bad to constantly be working? They say there's plenty of time to sleep when your days are done.

Check out my updated Coroflot page, don't worry - there is more to come!

New Vision

2010-06-08T22:29:00.000-04:00

We all come to a point in life when new plans arise and new vision become clear.

Ben and I have teamed up with a good friend to begin our business endeavor.

We have also moved to our new home and created a blog to fill you in on our lives and our new dreams and goals and how we plan on getting there. It's a long road ahead of us, but I hope you'll follow the chaos that is our lives at www.FOURin52.blogspot.com .

Keep us in your prayers. I'm sure we'll need it.

Life Update: Early May

2010-05-05T23:00:00.000-04:00

Things that are new since I've been neglecting the blog again:
1. We're moving
2. We're working on starting our business
3. We're doing a huge freelance project involving a campaign to raise $6 million dollars to change to appearance of downtown Columbus (Discover District).**
4. Did I mention we're moving? Well let me also add that's we're doing demolition, remodeling, painting all in a matter of a couple weeks.
5. I'm preparing to start another blog called "4 in 52" which will explain our move in detail, which may be followed by a book.**
6. Ben's sister's youngest son turned 5 today. It seems like just yesterday he was born and I was holding him at the hospital.
7. One of my best friends is graduating this week from nursing school! Hooray!
8. I'm exhausted.
9. But I'm so energized about everything that we have going on.
10. My cousin bought a wine shop**
11. Ben created a painting for my other cousin**
12. I have to stop typing and start packing....

**Will post about these soon - I hope.

Goodnight.

Spring Scarf-Necklace-Thing

2010-04-17T19:42:00.003-04:00

Well, I decided to finsih a small necklace/scarf that I started a couple of weeks ago. I decided to switch up the colors as I feel like I wear far too much black, white and gray. Everyone needs blinding green in their wardrobe right?

As you can see I've been slacking on my posts this week. That's because I have a few little side projects that Ben and I have been working on. Along with our freelance operation that we're branding and in process of starting up. Wish us luck. I'll post the fancy logo and identity soon.

*Yeah I haven't given the necklace/scarves a real name yet...maybe you could help me out with one.

It's All About The Blooms

2010-04-10T13:34:00.000-04:00

I Often Cook with Wine

2010-04-08T21:21:00.000-04:00

I set the table with sunflowers for Easter, and they've kept me inspired. I got them for a bargain at the Short North Market (as always, must brag about my savings).

I took a few pictures of what I made for dinner the other night. I absolutely love cooking mushrooms. They are cheap and easy (sounds like the definition of some people). I wouldn't have posted the pictures, but while at Hidden Lakes Winery the other day I was reminded of a favorite saying.

"I often cook with wine, sometimes I actually use it in the recipe."

I love what happens to mushrooms when you smother them with red wine. They become dark when they take in the juices. Then, when you lower the heat they release them, creating a rich and fantastic flavor. *Don't get fooled by these recent foodie type posts, I am actually a horrible cook with little to no skill set.

Finished product: Pork and mushrooms heavily loved by cabernet on a bed of spinach leaves, topped with manderines and chopped cashews.

Need a cheap cabernet with a lot of punch? I usually have a bottle of Mad Housewife, cab. sav. on hand. She's about $5.99 a bottle and gets the job done well.

The best part of all of this: Dinner with hubby around the sunflowers and our sweet Miss. Gracie cleans up the mess I left on the kitchen floor.

Textures for Tuesday

2010-04-06T07:08:00.001-04:00

I am currently living in an old duplex that is just chalk full of crazy textures and patterns. It was built in 1902 and has little suprises of character everywhere you turn. I ran around the other day snapping images of some of these, maybe they'll inspire you too.

Bread for Easter (and Jerome)

2010-04-02T09:27:00.002-04:00

There are people in our lives that make an impact, lasting impressions that we can't seem to shake. When Ben and I decided to join our church, we met a man named Jerome Dailey. Jerome was one of those individuals that encouraged others to share their gifts and talents with those around them, he always gave a hug and always smiled.

Last year, on May 17th Jerome Dailey passed away unexpectedly.

For the past few years Ben and I have been attending the Sunrise Service on Easter Sunday, which is (weather permitting) on the steps of the Columbus Museum of Art. A small group of us gathers there, and we have a short service and break bread together. Jerome had always brought homemade bread.

In memory of our dear Jerome, Ben and I thought "Hey why don't WE make the bread this year!"

So the celebration of Jerome, through my terrible cooking/baking skills began. I asked around, searched online and discovered that bread wasn't as hard as I was making it out to be!

I found a great recipe that seemed simple and quick.

And so it began....

Somehow, miraculously I made two loaves of unburnt bread! I'm not sure if they'll taste any good, but we'll be dunking them into grape juice anyways.

Portfolio: Coming Soon

2010-04-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

From time to time I revamp my portfolio, adding in new work, deleting outdated projects and adding a little bit of "sparkle" to lacking pages. This time it is a complete overhaul. I'm in the process of rebranding myself, creating an entirely new style of portfolio and eventually a website. Until now I've been relying on Coroflot and Trendhunter to do the talking for me when it comes to freelance projects, so I've decided to be bit more proactive.

I am also doing all of the photography for my new portfolio. I'll keep you up to speed with the entire process.

A little teaser. This is an image of glass beverageware that I designed. Sigma is a spin off of the typically plastic and red party cup. It is heavy glass and makes a perfect conversation piece for an eclectic or modern decor. This is one of my favorite pieces that I've worked on and Ben and I have a cupboard full of them, so when we have a party every guest can get a good laugh.

*Sigma also won a 2009 HFN Award of Excellence.

LaurieAnna's Give Aways!

2010-04-01T18:52:00.002-04:00

I'm not a big fan of advertising on blogs, unless of course it is for other bloggers. LaurieAnna seems to be quite the sweet lady, so be certain to check out her blog!

The Football Board: March 31st

2010-03-31T06:00:00.018-04:00

I wanted to share the chalkboard that is in Ben and my office at our house. The chalkboard is where we leave notes, forget plans that we've made and doodle. What is really important about this chalkboard is that is was Ben's grandpa's football play board when he was a high school coach. It is near and dear to us, and lately its message has been simple and straightforward.

Do something today. Make something, help someone, call a friend, go for a walk, drink a glass of wine, say thank you, give a hug, say hello. Celebrate today.

Easy Touch of Dainty

2010-03-30T21:22:00.000-04:00

I am not usually the first female to throw on a lot of pink or frills, but I will say that I love a simple touch of lady-likeness. My answer to my need for a simple girly accessory: An up-cycled bangle with a hand crafted flower attached.

I took an old bangle from The Limited, that had a paper insert under a layer of flexible plastic, and replaced the old outdated paper with a solid piece of purple paper. Then I cut out several different sizes and characters of flowers out of gray heathered felt. I cut out two purple triangular pieces to add depth. I then sewed all of the pieces together adorning them with faux gray pearls. I then attached the flower to the bangle by securing it with embroidery thread. Voile! A fancy new bangle that can be dressed up or down. Thanks to the heather gray felt it looks great with a plain white tee shirt and jeans!

Sunday Lapel Pin

2010-03-28T14:56:00.000-04:00

Lapel poof. How I love you. Perfect little accent to a collar on a sweater or blazer. Much more exciting than the typical old enameled standby. This one is black tulle with a rhinestone cluster in the center. I think I'll make some more and open an online poof shop!

Lovely Day

2010-03-28T10:04:00.000-04:00

Color Love (part 1)

2010-03-26T16:19:00.000-04:00

I am in love with blue and red.
We have this rug made of recycled plastic from world market (see picture). It makes my day. End of story.

Scarf Necklace

2010-03-26T07:23:00.001-04:00

Back in the fall I learned to knit. In my frustration with the amount of time it was taking me to produce a product I resorted back to crocheting. My newest method is something I'm quite proud of, even though it is a little elementary.

In turn - I began creating super long chains of crochet loops and wrapping them around and linking them in the back crating a necklace/scarf.

More pictures later.

I'm Sorry Blog - I've Neglected You.

2010-03-25T17:21:00.000-04:00

I'm turning a new leaf.
I will make time to do things, like blogging, sketching, painting....

I promise.

TWEET

New Year's Eve - With Lovely People

2010-01-09T08:36:00.000-05:00

It's been kind of a challenge for us with friends moving away, my family and a lot of my friends living in Canton, and us having moved so much even in the past year and a half (if you don't know our story our last place flooded shortly before our lease was up...). So we are always excited as heck when people come to see us in Columbus! Our good friends Sheri and Beau came to C-bus for New Year's eve this year!

(I was also quite thrilled because I finally

wore one of the custom poof head bands!)

Fun with the Tall Tea Mug

2009-12-31T12:22:00.002-05:00

So sometimes I get obsessed with the stuff I design that makes it to the real world.
Today's specimen - The Tall Tea Mug

Above: I brought home Tall Tea Mugs for Ben and I.

They fit perfectly into car cupholders!

I ordered at Grande Vanilla Latte at Starbucks.

The barista loved Tall Tea! That Grande Latte fits in there perfectly.

Knitted Tube Scarf

2009-12-28T09:03:00.000-05:00

Just a short post - I recently knitted a "Tube Scarf" for my Aunt Diane. I'm not sure if she liked it but I sure had fun taking pictures of Ben wearing it before I gave it to her.

Ah yes - The Crocodile Express at the Chime Long Hotel

2009-12-05T09:14:00.000-05:00

I just came acrossed these pictures from one of my co-workers that I traveled to China with in October. They are from The Crocodile Express (American Fast Food Restaraunt..sort of) at the Chime Long Hotel. If you go to their website you'll probably be amazed by the beauty and afforability of a stay there (make sure to hit the "English" button near the top right of the page.

*Note: These pictures were taken after a very long day of travel, which followed by moments of slap happiness due to exhaustion and lack of food.

Turkey Day Was Here (Part 1)

2009-11-30T05:30:00.001-05:00

So all of that worry and frustration and it all went off with out a hitch. We had 20 people and 3 dogs as guests in our house on Thanksgiving Day this year. We had 2 turkies, 5 pies and more side dishes than I could count.

POOFS

2009-11-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start making fun whimsical accessories...so I got inspired started cutting up old fabric pieces and putting them together with gromets and attaching them to leather strips and head bands. Hopefully they'll get better as I keep trying. Watch out, you might be getting one of these oddities for Christmas!

Turkey Day is Coming!

2009-11-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

Ok. I haven't written in a while and that's because I've been preparing for my very first Thanksgiving (hosting that is). I'm nervous as heck.

There will be around 20 people swarming our house (duplex really). Although anxiety filled I am very excited. This is the first time in a very long time that my parents have come to see me in Columbus.

I've created little personal touches such as personalized placemats, little cards for different food items, and a different cup for every person.

We've stocked up on a wine and sparkling grape juice for the kids and our wine cooler has never been so full!

Look at Glass

2009-11-08T23:17:00.001-05:00

My sister gave me a call this weekend and let me know that K.C. was having an open house. K.C. was my glassblowing mentor in high school. His studio, K.C. Glass Studio, is in Canton, Ohio. He is a gifted artist with a lot of heart. Over the years he's allowed me to come in and hang out with he and his cronies and blow glass and work on random projects when I'm in Canton.

If you've never seen hot molton glass, you ought to find a why to do it. Until then, check out these images of glass being poured into a mold I made for a table top a few years ago. K.C., Joseph Close and myself are the hands in the pictures.

Sunlight on Cafe Mug

2009-11-02T22:20:00.001-05:00

So I found this picture that I had taken over the summer. I had milk in a Starbuck's decorated Cafe Mug (Anchor Hocking baby). The sun was creating the graphic shadow on the milk - lovely.

Oh the Wonders of China and Hong Kong

2009-10-28T22:03:00.001-04:00

I recently visited Hong Kong and Guangzhou with work. Our trip was wonderful and such an inspiration to my work. Not only were my travel buddies excellent mentors but also great friends. We spent a little time in Hong Kong and visited the Kenfair, then traveled by train to Guangzhou. Where we spent four days visiting the Jinhahn Fair and the Canton Fair. It was unbelievable the cultural differences there, even at McDonald's.

Our time at the Canton Fair took up three whole days. We could have spent three more and not have seen everything. The amount of skilled vendors and odd finds was limitless. Some of my favorite memories were with one of our vendor's associates, her name was "Ashley." She was so endearing and called me "Little Sister Cori." She told us that she enjoyed working with us and her co-workers envied her, because of our kindness.

I honestly feel so privelaged and blessed to have been given the opportunity to travel to this place. China will always hold a special place in my heart, because the people were a kind I have never experienced before. Their big hearts and wild humor will forever travel with me.

Career Flashback #2

2009-10-05T23:05:00.001-04:00

There was a point in my life when I had two jobs and picked up freelance and somehow found time to go to school. I was working at Abercrombie and Fitch as a Visual Stylist and also at Victoria's Secret as a Visual and Floorset Specialist.

This post is about those fun days at A&F, where I spent a little over a year carrying heavy ladders, dressing body forms, measuring EVERYTHING and checking it 80 times, burning my hands on lighting and working for 2 days straight on new store set-ups.

Don't let that last bit scare you. It was actually really fun and quite the experience. I got to work with energetic people who cared about the brand they worked for. I was there first-hand for the opening of stores and for walk throughs of new floorsets. I implemented and styled the brand details that drove the business and created the Abercrombie lifestyle.

We often found time to get a good laugh, and try our skills as Abercrombie models.

Career Flashback #1

2009-10-04T22:47:00.001-04:00

So I've been reworking my portfolio to try and snag some extra freelance work, wether its design or cupcake decorating. I think I have an addiction to creating things. Uh oh.

During this process I've been taking a walk down memory lane. I've found some images of work that I did, trips I've been on and people I'll never forget.

I made this giant jump from retail design to product design. I used to work at Limited Brands for Bath and Body Works. I was the Intern Designer during my senior year at CCAD. Not only did I get to work on drawings and renderings, I got to go on little excursions to our constructions sites (this was one of my favorites - getting to see the real deal after working with the designers on the drawings).

Country Living Fair

2009-09-19T08:51:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite ladies, Meggan, went with me on a trend hunt recently. We attended the 2009 Country Living Fair! It was held at the Ohio Historical Village near the fair grounds here in Columbus.

On our way through the booths we found a lovely shop, Bloomsbury Loft. They're in Powell, Ohio and have a lovely store. They had one of my designs for Anchor Hocking in their booth! GO SIGMA! Sigma is one of my favorite beverageware pieces that I've gotten to work on. It is an immitation "party cup" or "Solo cup" made out of glass. It aslo recieved a 2009 Award of Excellence from HFN in the spring.