"Give a young girl who has good taste and sets little store on the fashion of the hour, some ribbon, gauze, muslin, and flowers, and she will make...
..without the aid of diamonds, lace and trinkets, a head-dress which will suit her a hundred times better than all the je.wellery of Duchapt could do." by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) from his book “Emile”.
Well, maybe the aid of a few Swarovski elements and pearls!
I haven't always done this, created flower hair accessories, tutus and baby shoes. My creativity came in the form of making seasonal wreaths, centerpieces and creating wonderful chocolates for our store!
Not that long ago, my mother and I owned a lovely Victorian and French Country home accent store with a gourmet food department and coffee bar that rivaled the other guy. I then went on to partner in operating a retail / wholesale business that imported high end French table linens and functional accessories for the home. We had a retail location at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, CA and a showroom at the LA Gift Market. We wholesaled to some of the finest locations including the Paris Hotel and Rogers Gardens. I was a little busy to say the least. It was time to slow down and enjoy the life that God gave me!
One day, my mother and I went to a fantastic ribbonwork class in a lovely home decor store in Long Beach, California. At that moment, I developed a true love for vintage laces, buttons, brooches and French ribbons. I was absolutely amazed at how one could manipulate ribbons and scrap vintage fabrics to form a lovely flower! And then to create a lovely spray of flowers and bows! Oh what I could do with that! U-gathers, straight ruching, gathering on the wire, all create a different look. And just as God intended no two are exactly alike! The folds that the ribbon make because of a stitch here and there, or because of a tuck and turn are all unique to each individual flower.
My other love that "grounds me" is gardening! It is calming and quite rewarding. Harvesting blueberries, strawberries and herbs, tending to the delicate Japanese Maple and anticipating the bloom of a vibrant flower is my perfect therapy. I love planting out of the ordinary blooms every season and never stop being amazed at how intricate and beautiful each flower is!
So, I thought why not create a business that would incorporate my love of flowers and the newly found, ongoing knowledge of ribbonwork? I love the simpler more feminine time back in the 1920's where fashion included lovely ribbonwork flowers that adorned hats, blouses, shoes and hair accessories. This is, in part, is how Piccadilly Cottage came to fruition.
I love the art of creating, anything, whether it be for a lovely hair accessory or cooking in the kitchen. Creating is something that brings family and friends close together! The smiles, the laughter the blunders all add up to wonderful memories and that to me is a big part of what life is all about.
I'm so glad you're here!
xoxo,
Lisa
