Posted By: Lesley
©Oxford University Press, UK
Here’s a cute kitty cat that I illustrated for an Oxford University Press course book earlier this year. My daughter’s favorite stuffed animal is a gray striped tiger cat named Tito, so of course I just had to get him into the book!
Posted By: Lesley
Last weekend my husband, Steven Withrow, daughter and I drove down to Alexandria, Virginia for a preview screening of the film Library of the Early Mind, (which my husband is co-producer of). The screening was a part of the first annual Alexandria Story Festival benefitting a great organization, Wright to Read, and was held at an amazing children’s bookstore, Hooray for Books. The screening went well and the panel discussion following was lively. It was a real pleasure to meet authors Lezlie Evans and Melissa Thomson, as well as the organizer, Leigh Hoyer and her team, and the staff of Hooray for Books. It was a wonderful trip and a real joy for us to to attend it as a family!
Posted by: Lesley
We are what we repeatedly do. -Aristotle
©Lesley Breen Withrow
Hope you have a great weekend!
Posted by: Lesley
©Lesley Breen Withrow
What a beautiful summer-like day it is here in New England. I know that there are not too many of these days ahead, so it’s time to enjoy it while you can!
The second half of my designs launched on Expressionery!! 
Woo-hoo! I think these are great gift ideas, maybe even for some of those hard to buy for people like teachers, grandmothers, aunties. You have them personalized and tah-dah! instant giftie. I have realized that I always think in terms of gift giving. I like to pick something out that coordinates perfectly (even down to the wrapping!) Weird, I know, but if you are on my gift list at least you know that I have thought about you! I can drive myself crazy trying to build an entire gift around the color blue! The top two layouts above are from my Cardigan Collection, which I love! I could just keep building and building this collection, it has a vintage American feel.
Posted by Liz
They’re not selling alumni or students, silly. But alumni from all over the country come to RISD on Alumni Weekend, and join up with some of the current students to set up on Benefit Street and sell their cool stuff. I will be there with an array of my hand-made goods as well as a couple of my books. Come on over for a grand day in the city, and visit me while you’re at it!
Here’s the official postcard. By the way, those are my birds in the middle!
Details:
RISD Alumni + Student Art Sale
Saturday, October 9th, 10-4pm
Benefit Street, between Waterman and Hopkins Streets in Providence, RI
Hope to see you there!
Posted by: Lesley
©Gartner Greetings
Happy Wednesday! It’s a beautiful day here. Hope you are enjoying yours.
Posted by Liz
As I said, I picked up a few things at the Brimfield show last week, because you can’t go there and NOT find anything, that would be impossible.
For me, anyhow!
Old stuff is aesthetically more interesting than most new stuff.
Again, for me, anyhow!
Some of the things I am a sucker for are vintage children’s books:
This coloring book is from 1934, and was never used. Why is that a little sad?
These are from 1950- I especially love the alphabet one!
These are teeny- about 3″ each. Wee stuff is always extra cute!
A little salute to Belgium and Holland:
That’s a wine label, I think…plus some sweet wooden shoes.
I always manage to find at least a few “new” old fabrics…
New-old stock Easter candy box= LOVE!
Another mysterious love- old, unused stickers, preferably the gummed paper kind, and especially if they’re in their original package!
Also an unused decal from one of our favorite meccas…Santa’s Village in NH!
And a little something more medieval, too:
Rampant unicorns! Huzzah!
That’s most of what I picked up. I guess I am generally an ephemera lover!
Posted by Liz
… can you smell it? Fall, Autumn, the wind whistling, a few leaves blowing by…and miles of antiques!
September is when one of the three yearly Brimfield shows occurs, and I snuck away for the day with my mom to partake in the hunt. It turns out that I collect pictures just as much as real stuff (no, more), so herewith are some photos of things I thought were cool, and some of the stuff I got while there. Really, I think the fun is just in the poking around, looking through decades past.
‘Twas a brisk fall day, cloudy for the most part, but with sun poking through occasionally.
Every season is Christmas at Brimfield:
These are some mighty fine paper candy containers:
Here’s something you don’t see anymore, not even in Scotland!
I love the naive painting on this set o’ dwarves…
Posted by: Lesley
Here’s a quote I like and part of a pattern I designed on a card for Gartner Greetings. Have a great weekend!
©Gartner Greetings
Men always love what is good or what they find good; it is in judging what is good that they go wrong.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
