American Harvest

The fires in Southern California have affected many people, including our family and friends.  Our son and daughter-in-law live in Brea, but their home is safe.  Jeremy is a teacher at Brea Olinda High School, which has been saved by the firefighters.  Brea Canyon High School, a continuation school, just down the street was nearly destroyed by the fire.  It will be at least three months before that school will reopen.  One of our son's students has severe asthma.  His parents stayed at their own home, but the student stayed at Jeremy's home.  We have friends whose family members have lost their home in Yorba Linda.  They are two young brothers who recently bought a condo…now destroyed.  My aunt and uncle were told to evacuate in about an hour, the winds shifted and their home was saved.  Debbee Thibault was told to get ready to be evacuated, but then told she could stay in her home.  Her brother was evacuated from his home that day.  His home was saved.
Here are four pictures from the Orange County Register showing the fire as it approached my son's school, Brea Olinda High School.  These incredible photos were taken by Andy Collins.

 



Many thanks go out to the brave and heroic firefighters for their determination in fighting this fire!

PS…Our son's car was parked at the high school on Saturday when the fires came so close.  He was able to drive it away on Sunday with no fire damage, but much smoke damage.

Kick off the holiday season with American Harvest at our 12th annual Christmas Open House on November 1 & 2, 2008.  This event has become a holiday tradition you will not want to miss.  See the amazing items created by our Family of Artists!  There will be lots of wonderful Santas, vintage style decorations, dolls, and one-of-a-kind artists' pieces!  Special guest artist, Debbee Thibualt, will be signing her holiday collection on Sunday only.  Share the tradition and come both days for inspiration and fun at American Harvest.

We will be closed October 27-31 to prepare for the open house.

Open House Hours:
Saturday   10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday     11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

I love untraditional Halloween themes.  Although I have many vintage 1930-1950 Halloween decorations as well.  This year I thought I'd turn "it" up a notch.  Since American Harvest is decked out in Theatre Mystique for Halloween, I changed my home decor to just black, white and gold for this year's fall decor.


I started out very simply with an old iron African Violet plant stand.  I added a Dee Faust pumpkin on top with black glittered candles below.  I also added black shiny shred under the candles.


Then I placed two child mannequins on top of an antique armoire.  The one on the left is not old, but it is decorated with antique ex-votos from Italy.  The black mannequin is very old.  I found it in Paris last year.


This beautiful antique dress form holds my Donna O'Brien crown and scepter.  The banner across the front is from Wendy Addison's Theatre of Dreams.


I think that my dress form is so pretty that I decided that it must have won a ribbon or two in a pageant.  Two great black ribbons adorn the hem line.


I adore all of my many antique candy jars.  This year I placed black and white items in them for the season.  None of the items are strictly Halloween, but they certainly do set the mood.

A pair of antique doll eyes are somewhat distorted in the candy jar.


In another candy jar you'll find a pair of antique child's high top button shoes.


This is an autograph book (again black and gold theme) dated 1885.  The calligraphy inside is amazing.


This black and gold cover of this book was a tremendous find!  The book is dated 1923.


Not everything needs to be old.  A silver beaded spider web sets off the Debbee Thibault creation.  It stands proudly next to a skull based Halloween tree. 


This silver boot was enhanced by Donna O'Brien.  The boot itself is a vintage shot glass from England.


Here is another candy jar (I have 14 in all in my living room filled with black, white and gold items).  This one is filled with gold vintage millinery.


Normally I have pale pink flowered pillows on my white furniture in the living room.  But for this time of year, I replaced the pillows with simple black pillows in a variety of shapes and textures.


Finally, I placed black silhouette bat candlesticks on my table.  I like how the sun is setting behind them.  I encourage my customers at American Harvest to "think outside the box".  My goal is to make our shop inspirational and creative.  Be passionate about your own designs for this Fall season.  Your family and friends will be amazed at how creative you are!  Let me know your design tips for this Halloween season.  After all, sharing ideas is half the fun!

I grew up surrounded by art…

I can never remember a time in my life when our home was not filled with sketch books, brushes, easels, watercolor paper, and the smell of oil paint on canvas.

You see, my mother is a painter, a watercolorist…an artist.

As a little girl, my mom was confined to her bed with a long illness.  In those days, what was a kid to do?  There were no videos, no X-boxes, barely TV! 

Her love of drawing and art began with pencil and paper.

I remember as a child proudly showing my mom a picture I had "colored" in school.  She was always encouraging to me, but also added, "Sharon, you know the sky can be yellow or pink or gray or even purple."

"The sky isn’t always blue."

This statement expanded my world of creativity and opened my thought process to "think outside the box".

I always knew my mom had a special talent.

None of my friends’ moms were featured at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, gallery openings, art exhibits in New York City or one-woman-shows.  Their moms didn’t have piles of blue ribbons haphazardly pinned to a bulletin board shoved in the corner of an art studio.

My mom’s circle of friends included potters, abstract painters, metal sculptors, batik artists, oil painters, and other watercolorists.

Today, new friends that have come into her life, all share the same passion for art.

I am so fortunate to have a career where I continue to be surrounded by incredible art in a variety of forms.  American Harvest continues to search out new talented artists to showcase in our shop.

At American Harvest, our "family" includes paper mache artists, doll artists, jewelry sculptors, mixed media and collage artists.

Thanks Mom for opening my eyes to the world of art and for reminding me that the sky isn’t limited to blue.  Happy Mother’s Day!

(Please do not copy or reproduce any of the art work shown in this post.  All of my mother’s paintings are copyrighted and cannot be used without her written permission.  Thank you.)

I love a beautiful yard, however I know nothing about gardening.  I really don’t like to work in the yard either.  My father was a meticulous rose gardener.  So when Rodger and I moved to our present home, I decided that I wanted lots of roses.

The pale pink climbing rose bush sat in a bucket for two years before I got Rodger to plant it.  The bush was almost dead, but this year it is alive and blooming profusely.  The ivy is planted on the other side of our back fence, and does a nice job of adding color and texture to our yard.  I love old garden ornaments and mossy statues that show their age.

This rose is called a "Double Delight" and is by far the easiest rose to grow.  I can even grow it!!!  It blooms like crazy and the blooms are enormous. 

This is perhaps my favorite rose, "Princess Diana".

I am a pink girl.  I love everything pink including my front and back yards.  However, just to add a little spice and whimsy, I planted this delicate yellow rose.

Not only do I love roses for their blooms, but I love their leaves.  This variety has pink edged leaves.  I cannot wait for the flowers to open.

I took this picture in the early morning as the sun was just beginning to caress the roses.

This white rose is lightly trimmed with pink.

I really have no clue as to rose gardening.  When I prune, I can hear my father yelling from heaven, "Sharon, NOT LIKE THAT…You should have paid attention!"  He would be happy to see that I have his love for roses.

Rodger and I grow other flowering plants too.  Just don’t ask me for their names, I cannot remember!  This gorgeous plant climbs on the north fence in my yard.

Bright pink flowers welcome spring.  (I think this bush is the culprit to my allergy problems.)

This plant has the largest lavender flowers that I’ve seen.  Bumblebees love this one!  It blooms almost year round.

This nice little ground cover has pin cushion like blooms.  Sadie, my English Springer Spaniel, loves this plant.  She doesn’t eat it, but she does like to rub her face in the foliage.  She is such a "girlie" dog!

I am pleased that my garden blooms in spite of my lack of gardening abilities.

Happy Easter to All…..

Meet The Beatles, I really mean to say Meet Ringo!!!!  We have a new member to the Mattern family….meet Ringo!  Our son, Noel and daughter-in-law, Sarah have added to their family.  Everyone is so thrilled, well almost everyone.  Stout and Porter, their black cats are not thrilled.  But the kittys are finally coming out of hiding to see the new baby.

Note the rings around his eyes, hence the name "Ringo".

His little ears are outlined with black.  Isn’t he adorable?  He has four white socks too! So now you have met Ringo. 

It may be time for you to revisit an old friend, The Beatles.  I Want To Hold Your Hand Paw.

I love this album, Meet The Beatles.  If you haven’t listened to it lately, please do so.  It is just as good as it was back in 1964.  Trivia time, Meet The Beatles was not the first Beatles’ album, the first Beatles album was released a year earlier, do you know the title of the first Beatles’ album?

How do Mattern’s do Disneyland?  Well, this last time, it was at FULL THROTTLE!!!  Our son, Jeremy, joined us at the Magic Kingdom.  Being a running coach, he suggested that we could go on 20 different rides in just one day.  We are always up for a challenge, so the goal was set, and away we went!  By the end of the day we had been on 20 different rides, four of them twice, for a total of 24 rides!  So here’s your challenge, look at the ten pictures below, guess which ten rides are represented by the pictures.  Email your answer to us by noon (PST) Friday, February 22, 2008.  Our email is info@americanharvestusa.com   Emails with the most correct answers will be placed in a drawing for three Disney collector pins.  Have FUN!

Picture #1, shows Sharon and Jeremy entering the first ride of the day.

Picture #2…it is dark inside this ride.

Picture #3…You might just see Captain Jack here, Donna O.

Picture #4…Jeremy is pictured with the namesake of this ride.

Picture #5…this happens to be Sharon’s favorite ride in Disneyland.

Picture #6…it is so much fun when you spin out of control!

Picture #7…this ride is in CA Adventure, and you might get a little wet.

Picture #8…chilling statues are in the garden walkway to this ride.

Picture #9…this ride is out of this world.

Picture #10…wildest ride in the wilderness.

Finally, here is a picture of the three Disney Collector pins for the lucky winner of this challenge!!!

By the way, if you think that all we did was go on 24 rides….you are so WRONG!!!  We ate our way through Disneyland and California Adventure, we visited with our friend, Laura, who was there with her Disney Pals, checked out all of the beautiful flower gardens, people watched, shopped for clothing, traded pins, saw several Disney characters, and finally watched the "magical" fireworks!!!!  Boy, are we exhausted!!!

Hi everyone, yes it is me, Rodger, or as I am often called "the guy that is married to the red head at American Harvest".  I thought that I might give you a glimpse into Sharon’s world at her home office and work space.  She has no idea that I am writing this, but I’m sure she’ll find out soon enough.


I peeked around the corner and snapped this picture without her knowledge.  Do you know that she creates many things for her store, American Harvest?  She had a full time crafting business for 18 years before she opened her store.

She loves old frames and glass pedestal cake plates.

Wendy Addison made the glittered key for Sharon a few years ago and now the key has been added this year to the Midwest line.  Sharon loves pretty things and she is crazy for pink.  Ulla made the candy container that hangs in the oval frame.

Our friend Jan gave Sharon this beautiful egg made by Iva (I think).

The Plan de Paris book is mine, but somehow ended up in Sharon’s workroom.  Photo of our son’s wedding is to the right.  Pictured below are old books and our eldest son’s wedding picture.

The little pink cupboard holds many supplies, including antique ribbons, tickets and glass beads.  The paper ribbon on the bottom shelf is from Switzerland, while many of the other ribbons are from France.

Sharon’s favorite word is passion.  If you don’t have passion for life, people, places and ideas….just sit that one out!

I found this quote amongst her supplies.  Sounds just like my dad, who is 90 years old….but I think that Sharon meant it for me!  I hope that you enjoyed this visit to Sharon’s workroom and I hope that she doesn’t get too mad at me for inviting you in.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sharon and Rodger at American Harvest!