Off the Matrix

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I last posted. I am almost done with holiday prders and will resurface soon with tons of great pictures, stories, and most of all monograms!

Happy Holidays!

What a Bride wants, What a Bride needs.....

Today's post is going to focus on things wedding related. Since I had 6 weddings to attend this year, I have found myself wanting to concentrate on items that were not of a wedding nature. Now that I have recovered from what seems to be the last year of every weekend is a wedding, I can now turn my focus back to bridal.

Here are a few photos and fun gift ideas.....I am working on flower girl buckets and ring pillows, so I hope to have photos of those soon.

Happily Ever After.....Isn't that what every bride wants? This ribbon stitched into the hem of a dress not only counts as your something blue, but also has some great photography potentioal.

The flowers from your bouquet will fade within a few hours or days, but a lovely bouquet sash will be with you forever. I can see this put away for the wedding of a family member or future children. Bouquet sashes also look lovely displayed with other mementos in a shadow box. A very versatile item, you can go with a single color initial, a tone on tone version, or a couples monogram. The choice is yours!

This bouquet sash was monogrammed with the brides maiden initials and attached to a ribbon from one of the client's bridal showers. She carried this "bouquet" at her rehersal.

This same client ordered koozies for the bridal party to use at the bbq theme rehersal dinner. Since many of the girls were engaged and about to change their names, we dicided to go with first names for the ladies and initials for the men. I could not leave the bride and groom out, so we made these special koozies just for them.

I think this large cosmetic tote is a great bridesmaid gift! It's washable and will fit nicely inside of the tote bag that your maids in waiting got the last time they were a bridesmaid. It comes in several colors and can be personalized with a name, initials, or a monogram. This would also make a nice thank you gift for the wedding director, jr. bridesmaids, or for shower hostesses.

Ribbons and Trim

Not too long ago I spent a weekend in NYC with my two best friends. While I was there I had the opportunity to visit my favorite ribbon and trim store. Today's post features the fun things I purchased while in the big apple. Any of these can be used to jazz up a simple onesie, burp cloth, or a personalized pillow case for spend the night parties or a night away from home.

Funky Patterns

Precious Polka dots

Stripes

Solids

Pom Pom's

Ric Rac

Fresh and Fun Combinations

Holiday Baazar

The holiday baazar at St. Benedicts has now come and gone. People seemed to have a few favorite items: pink and blue baby bibs, coffee tumblers, koozies, tote bags, and cosmetic bags. Here are some photos from our booth.

This picture show several of the ribbon and trim options for our bibs, burp cloths, and onesies.

We met a ton of great people and hope to be invited back next year!

New Holiday Designs

Toile Tree

I have fallen so much in love with the dish towels I posted last week, that I decided that I needed to come up with some fun ways to make these towels into Christmas treasures for family and friends.

Check out these new designs. I got to stitch out the Toile Tree this morning and it looks SO good. I am going to stitch out all the designs and take with me to the Holiday Baazar this weekend. What I like about these designs is that they are classic yet fun and you can put a family's name underneath the design.

Swirl Tree

Classic Tree

Merry Christmas Tree

Tree Modern Tree

Woodland Tree

Winter Tree

Leave a comment and let me know which is your favorite! These designs would also be good on a hand towel for the powder room.

Dish Drying Diva

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I do not like to wash and dry dishes, that's what dish washers are for! Regardless, it never fails that I have more than my dishwasher can handle and end up washing and drying a few pieces by hand.

With the addition of Madame Monogram's 100% linen dish towel, this job I will dread no more. These natural linen cloths are the perfect size, super absorbent, and look so pretty! Since the thread I use is 100% bleach proof and color fast, you will not have to worry about these dish towels loosing their beauty for a very long time!

I think that this is going to be my "go to" hostess and gift swap item this holiday season!

Coffee Tumblers

Well, we are back from a fun weekend in Charleston and I have finally had the chance to photograph the new coffee tumbler fabrics. Personally I think this is one of the best gifts ever. A constant coffee or hot beverage drinker, I have one with me at all times.


After testing out different thread and fabric combinations, I think the pink, aqua, and red look great with a black single initial or monogram. The brown damask and black pattern look cute with a bright color.

It was MINT to be!

By now I am sure you have noticed my small obsession not only with monograms, but monogrammed things that are also preppy. The lastest addition to the Madame Monogram line is a company called mint http://www.ohmint.com. Oh holy cuteness! I'm not sure which of their many offerings are my favorite. Right now it has to be the lunch boxes, garmet bags, and seersucker bloomers. I'm placing my order today and hope to hav emy items in for the St. Benedicts holiday baazar on November 8th!

On the horizon

Well, it's been a very busy few weeks in the land of Madame Monogram. We have been getting lots of orders for coffee tumblers and monogramming of personal items. Below you will see the tumbler that everyone has been raving over. The tumbler style we have decided to go with is a little different, but the fabric and monogram style are the same. There are 5 more fabric choices now available, I will have to get photos up next week. The other colors and fabrics are a bit more whimsical without looking childinsh or silly. Madame Monogram customers will have their choice of brown and white damask, black and white organic print, red and cream organic print, pink paisley, and aqua trellis.

November 8th will be our public debut at St Benedict's Holiday Baazar. Last year the baazar drew around 1,000 people. This year there will be 40 or so vendors including me! I am thrilled and a little anxious. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? To help me get through the day, by sister is going to join me. We have done several projects together through the years so I know I will have the best help.

Here are a few of the items that we will be featuring at the baazar, most of which are perfect for holiday gift giving. I think my favorite new item has to be the scalloped linen cocktail napkin.

Some of my favorite items for our mini monogrammers are as follows:

Hooded Infant Towel

Infant Layette Set

Available in Blue, Pink, and White

Well, I think that's it for now. Madame Monogram is going out of town tomorrow, so we will see you again next week.

Tote Bags

So a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this too good to be true deal on some tote bags. Being the deal hunter that I am I bought 6 of each color.

So far they have been a HUGE hit and I am going to have to go back for more. Here are two different color combos that I just finished monogramming as bridesmaid gifts.