Brrrrr....Baby, it's COLD outside

Here in San Diego we have great sympathy for those of you in other parts of the country  who have been dealing with bitterly cold temperatures and seemingly endless snow storms recently.   We admit that we are wimps.  We start to get chilly when it dips below 60 degrees. "Grab the wool undies, Martha!  It's going to drop to 54 degrees today!"

So we thought we would send good warming thoughts your way with an Ideabook from Houzz featuring cozy winter fireplaces.  You will notice that fireplaces are not limited to living room areas.  You will see them tucked away in the bath next to spa tubs, nestled in kitchen corners or warming up master bedrooms.  If  I could build my dream house, I would want a fireplace in just about every room.  How about you?

Use the tiny arrows below the photos to see all of the pictures in the slideshow or click on the link directly below to go to Houzz and see beautiful full size photos.

Oh So Cozy Fireplaces

Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More»

Home Design and Decorating Ideas:

Kitchen Design · Bathroom Design · Living Room Design · Bedroom Design · Dining Room Design · Patio Design · Landscaping Design ·

Our decorative tiles add a beautiful design element to any fireplace surround.  Since we can do custom sizes and designs, we can work with any size space that you have.

 Tiles from our Modern Collection used in a Fireplace surround.

And in case you don't know about it, you should check out the website Houzz.   We went there to create the Fireplace Ideabook.  Houzz allows you to browse through thousands of photographs of homes and rooms - both indoor and outdoor spaces.  The best part is that you can create your own Ideabooks and save all of the photos that you like.  You can even email your Ideabooks to your family, friends or professionals.  It is the digital equivalent of tearing out pictures from magazines and throwing them all in a folder.  But much, much cooler, way more organized and thankfully less expensive - it's free!  You will get addicted for sure.

Tile Collection Displays

Our Production Elves have been puttering around in the sample and display area recently.  They have started to put together potential new display boards.  Compact in size at 9" x 13" and simple in design.  The boards are black and lightweight, so easy to carry around to hold next to other elements you are considering for your room design.  Some examples below:

Chateau Collection

Marseille in the Truffle color

Cathedral Collection

Listellos from our Wrought Iron Collection

Metal Amore Collection

Labyrinth Collection

We haven't finalized any display boards, but we love how they are looking so far.  And the Elves just won't stop talking about them, so we had to throw some pictures up on the blog.  Now maybe they'll pipe down and get back to work!

The Prodigal Stone Returns

Once upon a time,

Botticino was a bad, bad boy.

(Full story here)  

But he has cleaned himself up and come back into our lives.  He promises that it will be different this time.

And let's face it - we are superficial and our love is conditional.
We only want him back because he's beautiful.  Classic tumbled edges with a smooth, creamy surface always makes us swoon.

Botticino is now officially back as one
of the stone types that we regularly offer. 
Sizes that we stock are:
2x2
4x4
6x6
12x12
3x6
4x8

Other sizes are possible. Call us with any special requests.

Click below for single sheet showing all the stone types
that we carry:

Updated Charts with all Stone Types
 

And you can find the same information with pictures
on the Materials page of our website:

http://www.stoneimpressions.com/materials.htm

Merry, Merry & Happy, Happy

Dundee has worked hard this year.  Chasing tennis balls and getting treats from the FedEx driver has just worn him out.  He needs a break. 

So to give him time to rest up, we will be closed for a week over the holidays - December 24th through January 2nd.

As we look back over the past year, we are so grateful to have had such a dedicated and hard-working team of people to work with every day.  We look forward to an even better new year!

All of us at StoneImpressions wish you every happiness this Holiday Season and prosperity in the New Year.

Happy Thanksgiving with some fun, handmade products from Etsy

You might be familiar with Etsy.com, an online marketplace for handmade goods.  If you haven't heard of it, do yourself a favor and go take a look.  You will be amazed by the amount of creative talent and the extraordinary number of items available for sale.  A search for the word "Thanksgiving" results in over 28,000 entries.  There is a huge range of styles - from simple, crafty handmade dolls or puppets to striking original paintings and sculptures.  Beautiful handmade jewelry too.

If you ever find yourself getting depressed about things, like the lack of art classes in our schools or the bland, over-commercialized consumer culture that we live in, spend a few minutes browsing around Etsy.  You will be reassured that a place still exists where creativity and artisitic expression is flourishing. 

Below are some of the Thanksgiving themed items for sale that we thought were the most fun and interesting.  (Don't miss the Orchid Gourd.  It is awesome!)

GREEN GOURD MAN PORTRAIT
by Curious Portraits

moses, thanksgiving or christmas monster sculpture
by dancesippydance

bartholomew, thanksgiving or christmas monster sculpture
by dancesippydance

original art drawing aceo art card Thanksgiving ugly turkey
by artistsuetaylor

Orchid Gourd Pyrography Wood Burned Gourd
by NessysNest

Wow, that gourd is just stunning.  Check out more lovely items at Nessy's Nest store.

 

retro ORANGE and BLACK full apron
by loverdoversclothing

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  Wishing you safe travels,
full bellies and warm memories.

Sage Green Inspiration from KraftMaid Cabinets

We have been seeing a bit of a renaissance for our Minore Collection lately. Inquiries and purchases are definitely up in the last few months. Below are some photos of the Minore Pattern tiles in the Charcoal-Green color, paired up with some beautiful KraftMaid cabinets.  LOVE the sage green color of the cabinets.

And take a look at KraftMaid's website if you have a chance - www.kraftmaid.com.  Beautifully designed and easy to navigate, it is full of inspiring photos and lots of great information.  They are currently offering a Define Your Style Contest.  You get to play around with colors, styles, finishes and accessories and build your own digital Inspiration Board.  Lots of fun to do.  

And if the joy of creating isn't its own reward, you also have the chance to win $50,000 towards your dream kitchen!  Wouldn't that be great?  So stop wasting time on Facebook and Twitter (and reading silly blogs like this) and get on over there to release some of that creative energy!