Magnolia Pearl

Saturday February 18th in Fredericksburg, Texas was the artfully whimsical Fashion Imaginarium Show.  The spring line for Magnolia Pearl was debuted in an artfully whimsical and absolutely intoxicating runway extravaganza.  The event was creatively inspiring and an absolute feast for the eyes.  The lovely venue was at Carol Hicks Bolton's fabulous new warehouse at 301 S. Lincoln Street, ("Laboratoire de Design.")  This amazing event was captured by the lovely Jo Packham of "Where Women Create" magazine and will be featured in the November issue.

A fabulous wall at Carol Hicks-Bolton's lovely new warehouse

 More items offered by  Carol Hicks-Bolton

Intriguing  tablescape collage

Finally, we meet!  

Kimberly Potts-Smacking Darcy & Robin Gray - Magnolia Pearl

The Smacking Darcy Pinterest Account

Pinterest is fabulous!  So many beautiful and inspiring ideas...

 

Tree Puppet

 This sweet Tree Puppet grows in Jefferson, Texas

(credits to go Constance Mueller of Rochambeau

I am constantly thrilled and inspired by my friend, the beautiful and talented Mrs. Constance Mueller of Historical Jefferson, Texas.  Jefferson is an exquisite bed & breakfast town located in East Texas.  I was raised not far from Jefferson, so I have a special attachment to anything Jefferson.  

For anyone considering a beautiful long weekend or vacation in the Piney Woods of East Texas, Jefferson is { scrumptious! }

An interest for "Pinterest"

Lately I've been seeing a lot of these icons on my favorite websites...
What is this exactly?

The simple answer is that Pinterest is a virtual inspiration board.  Turns out, it can be far more than that.

We all see beautiful and inspiring things online -- { love } -- and don't want to forget about them, right?  Well, if you are like me, you will bookmark the page -- and it instantly goes into that deep and ridiculous { black hole } of bookmarks located somewhere in the  computer.  Sometimes I even end up emailing the cool link back to myself.  Clearly that  soon becomes a hassle.

There's a simpler way to organize all of the great things that you find online -- from clothes to DIY home ideas to your many inspirations. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.  Literally visualize pinning your favorite photos, clippings, ads to a physical cork board.  However, after a while, that board starts to look pretty disorganized and junky, right?
What you cannot do with a physical cork pin board is browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspirations from people who share your interests. To get started request an invite.

I've become one of "those people" that snaps pictures of their food...

Such a worthy distraction, I say...   Boudin-stuffed pork chops, roasted sweet potato smothered in French butter, honey and roasted pecans, a 2004 Malbec...

Laissez les bons temps rouler,  dear  friends.  ~ XoXo  K

Hill Country Cakery in Austin/Lakeway area

I got a call from a bakery owner in the Austin area who had found Smacking Darcy online.  After spending a few moments on the phone with her, I knew that I was truly speaking with an artist. 

Artists are the hardest to design for.  They don't know exactly what it is they want, but they know exactly what they do not want.

"I'm looking to bring a unique presence with my business  to Lakeway (Austin area)  I like to stir up excitement with my confectionery creations.  I am NOT another Martha Stewart cake designer.   I love textures, layers and vibrant color.  My favorite colors are orange and various shades of vibrant blue/ blue-green.  I also must have an owl, because my grandmother loved owls so, and she my inspiration..." 

 For inspiration, she sent me swatches of loveliness -- such as this royal beauty.

Really, I want a sofa exactly like this one.  I would put it in the middle of my little design studio.  It would be my "thinking" couch.  It would be upon this beauty which I would ponder new designs enjoy wicked amounts of coffee, mounds of dark chocolate.   

Interestingly...after experimenting with wild swatches of color and texture, Hill Country Cakery ended up with a neutral damask/ black diamond look to showcase, and not distract from, all of its beautiful cakes and confections.

 http://www.hillcountrycakery.com/

Therapy Thursdays

This is a mockup of an 8x2.5 banner that a client requested for "Therapy Thursdays."  I designed it to match her website. I was pretty pleased with the results.  She was pretty darn pleased also.  Wow, I love my clients!

(click to enlarge)