Hand made papers light up any corner of a room.

Anything but a white lampshade, is what you find here at Shandell’s.  Yes I do make them (white lampshades), but with all of the amazing choices of hand made papers from around the world and as well as in my backyard here in the Hudson Valley I try to put a little color into everyone’s world.

I am always intrigued with paper artists, screen printing, marbling, paste paper and free hand.  All make my work so much fun.  The choices of decorative papers is so large there is  something for everyone.   Each paper lends itself to brighten up any corner of a room.

If you are thinking about adding a colorful lampshade to your home, maybe these will inspire you to look past the old standard of a white shade.

Hand made papers lighting up vintage lamps.

Recently I had an artist, Dana Curtis approach me with her hand made papers. They are reminiscent to the style of Jackson Pollock with her own twist of color and texture.

I fell in love with these and put them together with some of my vintage lamp collection.

We spent some time picking out lamps and talking about colors.  The results are pictured above.

Thrilled how they came out, hope you enjoy them just as much as I do. To see them all visit my online shop.

I will be added more of Dana’s work to my lamps, so check back often.

Spring flowers from the 1920′s to the 1950′s

When I started making lampshades in the 90′s, vintage wallpaper was the main material that I used.  I have a huge collection of papers that spans from the 1800′s to the 1950′s.

Wallpaper from that time period was made on real paper not vinyl, and every color of the paper had a roller to roll that color on it.  Giving the wallpaper a hand painted look. When the light comes through the shade, it has a wonderful glow.

I was down in my basement where I keep all of my wallpapers, looking through them for inspiration.  Outside all of the leaves and buds are all coming out, I thought to make a fun series of shades using floral wallpaper from the 1920′s to the 1950′s.

Each paper different in time, but all have flowers on them. From romantic roses to flowers with silver stenciling from the 1950′s, how retro is that.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did making.  There will more added soon, so check back often.

HAPPY SPRING.

Vintage Seed and Plant Catalogs inspired me this winter.

Vintage Seed Catalog Collection

This winter, as I was organizing my flat files, I came across a wonderful bunch if vintage seed and plant catalogs.

The graphics intrigued me, they are an artistic travel through time.  Each tell a story of what was happening in this country when the catalogs were printed. I just could not resist putting these images on everything I make.  The winter months went by much faster as I was dreaming about my garden.

I think Sweet Peas were a very popular flower, there are so many catalog covers with them on it, one of my favorite I put on a night light.  This one was on a Burpee catalog from 1898.

David Landreth was the first person to produce a mail order seed catalog in the USA.  The art of hand drawn catalog covers have been replace by the camera.  The photos are beautiful, but pen and ink are my preference.

I love to garden, having my hands in the earth is a pleasure I share with millions. My dogs like to help me with it as well, they dig and I plant. How perfect.

Seed catalogs start arriving in early fall and are all in a basket waiting for the long winter days.

My friend Margaret, from A Way to Garden has been talking about them for a while.

This year I have decided to order only Nasturtiums and Morning Glories in as many colors and types I can find.  The white picket fence in front of my yard will be filled with lots of color.

Enjoy your journey through my seed catalog collection.

Hope they make you smile.

Eddie Ross + Elle Decor = EE

A little over a week ago, I received a phone call from my friend Eddie Ross.  He needed some lampshades and lamps for Bloomingdale’s Big Window Challenge. He brought in a pair of wonderful peacock blue, mid century lamps that he got from Deborah at Buck House.

We had a wonderful time designing the shades for these, going through 100′s of papers, fabrics and trims.  Settling on Gold Leaf wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries. The lamps had so much to offer in the way of design and color, the shade for them needed to be just as strong, but not overpowering.  I think they came out fantastic.

I was also lucky enough to have a small pair of peacock blue lamps to coordinate, I made matching shades for them as well.  These lamps sit tucked away on a book shelf filled with eye candy.

The display for this room setting in in the window of Bloomingdale’s in New York City.  There is a contest between three very talented people, each very different and each with style.  I have a bias for Eddie’s window, (it does help that I did the lampshades for him)I just love it.

Head on over to Bloomingdale’s Big Window Challenge , read all about each room, the people who designed them and cast your vote.  I won’t tell you who I have voted for I will let you guess.

Thank you Eddie for including me in this fabulous project, I am looking forward to seeing it next week in person.

Susan

A project with Eddie Ross

I am very fortunate to live in a small town, Millerton, NY 100 miles north of New York City,  also to have a great neighbor and friend, Eddie Ross and his partner Jaithan Kochar.  Eddie called one day saying he had found an amazing 19th century apothecary jar and would like to have it made into a lamp.  I so love to get interesting pieces to make into lamps.  Most days I look at just about anything for a lamp, a bottle, carved table leg. old pieces of metal in any form.  I get so excited when I get these type of projects, Eddie had the same enthusiasm about it.

Once the lamp is done, we were only half way there.  The next part is the shade, picking the right shape and material to accent the lamp.  Eddie wanted a barrel shaped shade, I suggested we use a wonderful seagrass paper to offset the sleek glass. Visit Eddie’s blog to read all about this great project.

I hope this inspires you to look at every day objects, treasures you find and family heirlooms  in a whole new way.  The simple gracefulness of this bottle will be enjoyed for years and surely make Eddie and Jaithan smile.

Pumpkins are everywhere this time of year

The potters of the Mid 19th century experimented in the most amazing shapes and glazes.

Lucky for us so many examples survived the changing times.

I wonder what the artist’s of that time would think of how I transform them.

I could not resist this pair,  perfect for this time of year. There shape, chunky and round,

just like the pumpkins we have been decorating our homes with.

I paired them with a great paper made with leaves running throughout.

Bring a bit of nature indoors to make you smile.

Nothing Better than a Good Scrap Yard, Part 2

This summer I was on a hunting trip in upstate New York, stumbled on a great organized junk/scrap yard.  There was a section for everything.  I could not contain myself, all I thought was how I was going to get all of my treasures home.  There was a 19th century iron garden gate, I love these.  They have a history, I use my imagination to wonder who were the people who walked through the gate.  The center pieces was the only thing left to salvage, the iron scroll work was beautiful.

On my way home I stopped at my welders and dropped them off.  These are the lamps, vintage industrial with style.

The fun part about what I do, is I get to find incredible hand made papers form all over the world new and old to make lampshades for the lamps that get created from my hunting trips.  This paper I found this spring in New York.  The paper is a light version of Kraft paper with scrolls of espresso and bronzes screened on it. A perfect match for these lamps.

If you are in the area stop by to see works in progress or visit my online shop.

Have a great weekend.

Susan

Dorothy Draper would have loved these.

These fabulous ginger jar shaped lamps, with gesso flowers came right from the Dorothy Draper era. They are classical and funky wrapped into one. The tone on tone feeling is soothing.  I have found quite a few examples of gesso decorated lamp bases lately.  This is the first of a series that I will be doing this fall.  The gesso is normally white, but I have found a few lamp bases that the gesso has been colored. The imagination of the artists back then are amazing.  Someone must have filled a pastry bag with gesso and decorated the lamp bases just like a wedding cake.

I topped them off with a great pair of cream colored sea grass hexagon lampshades.  Bringing a twist to these bases.  The sea grass has the wonderful warm tones of the lamps.  These lamps would be a welcome addition to any home.

If you are in the area stop by and see or visit my online store.

Enjoy,

Susan

Sleek, modern, simple and elegant.

I could not think of just one description for these lamps, so sleek, modern, simple and elegant it is.

A wonderful source I have that makes wood veneer pliable and sturdy for lampshades. Cherry wood is my favorite, the glow is so beautiful, amazing that it is real wood.

I was making a large pair of square shades, cutting the cherry wood from the sheets I get and there was scrap pieces left.  I just cannot toss scrap of any kind, you never know what I can make with them.  Then I was cutting a pair of tall slender lampshades for a customer and the pattern fit the cherry wood scrap perfectly.

If you are in the area stop by and see what I have created with the scraps I save or visit my online store.

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