Bring Sis Boom to Britain!

Posted: 07 Sep 2011 01:20 PM PDT  (subsequently lost by Blogger, and found by Karen via her E-mail feed) If, like me, you're a keen follower of all the crafty sew and sews in Twitterland, you will probably already be aware of the wonderful world of Sis Boom. If so, you will need no introduction - so do skim over to see why I'm feeling a tad special today. If you're a fabric fan and the name means nothing to you; Where have you been? Wait 'til you see what you've been missing! An Introduction to Sis Boom Introducing Jennifer Paganelli - the face and all-round lovely person behind the Sis Boom banner. Click here to go straight to SIS BOOM To quote direct from the fabulous Sis Boom website - As a designer, Jennifer Paganelli finds inspiration in everything. Sis Boom™, her one-of-a-kind vintage products company, is the inspiration distilled from several lives: her youth in the Great Lakes region of the US, her adolescence spent in the vibrant Caribbean, her college years in traditional New England, followed by career-building in the clamor of New York City. Today, she and her company are located in leafy rolling countryside of the Northeast. It’s here where she takes a breath and gets to work everyday. “I try to design gifts and items that help us share memories with those we love. My designs are rooted in the things I handled as a child,” says Jennifer. “The materials I choose, whether a vintage ornament or a simple cutout, elicit a memory from everyone who sees them,” she continues. “I love it when people call it ‘eye candy’ because that’s how I feel about it –it fills you right up.” Sis Boom’s fans include all kinds of people, from celebrities to traditional “crafty types” to Folk Art collectors. In fact, for several years running, Paganelli’s designs have been placed in the American Folk Art Museum lobby glass cases. The Sis Boom Collection, its name adopted from her childhood nickname given to her by her twin brother, defies easy categorization. With unusual artistry and a love of texture and a blend of vivid colors, Jennifer uses tag sales, flea markets and European sources as a starting point to create her art. Jennifer’s connection to all things vintage, including fabrics, forms the basis of her textile work. She clearly identifies with their strong, saturated and lively color and seeks to incorporate these elements into her “Girlfriends” line, her first for Free Spirit. Sis Boom has been seen all over the world and featured in magazines such as Country Living, Ladies Home Journal, Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens and many others. Jennifer can always be reached through her website and welcomes you to step into her world of shared memories here on her blog. Bring Sis Boom to Britain! Have you taken a look at the site? Have you fallen in love with the fabric? Did you see the fabulous Girls World book? Question - Why, oh why - isn't Sis Boom routinely stocked by stores here in the UK? I've never seen it anywhere. Mind you, I will admit that living in Cornwall my choices are somewhat restricted. However, I have looked online - and no joy. Sniff. Jennifer is a keen Twitterer - adding fabulous photos on a regular basis. I sigh whenever a fabric photo is posted; immediately pinning it to my Pinterest Fabric Fetish board with demented fervour. I don't retweet everything that crosses my timeline, but I do retweet things that I really like. As there's not a piece of fabric from Sis Boom that I haven't liked to date - I suppose that's quite a few tweets! Anyways..... to get to the point. Jennifer has noticed my tweets, (yes, lil ol' me!) picking up on the fact that I'm begging for it to be sold in the UK - and obviously she would love it to be here too. Drum roll please...... Boppity, boppity, boom Bless you sweetheart! A package arrived for me yesterday afternoon. I was speechless (ask anyone who knows me - this doesn't happen often). Inside - A selection of Sis Boom fabrics, just for me. Better than a birthday or what? Delighted isn't the word..... Ecstatic fits the bill far better. Aren't they fabulous? I hope I get this right.... but I do believe they form part of one of the latest fabric ranges - West Indies A wonderfully vibrant range, in stunning colourways. Just look at this bird! Beautiful - and against that zingy green.... simply stunning. (JP54GREEN | Matillda) And look at these! So bright and colourful - don't they just sing at you? (from the top - JP51BRANDY | Luca, JP53PINK | Marie, JP50YELLOW | Velentina) And still more - oh, how I'm loving these birdies! (brown floral = JP50COCOA | Velentina, blue bird = JP54BLUE | Matillda) Wouldn't you be delighted too? Can you forgive me for using so many exclamation marks in a post? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thrilled *** Thrilled *** Thrilled (Sorry - couldn't resist - in silly mode) Thank you so much Jennifer*. Receiving this package was a true delight, and an unexpected pleasure. You are incredibly kind and generous, and I am one very happy bunny. If you are in the UK and loving these fabrics too - please can I ask a big favour. Please send this post to any fabric stockists you buy from. Goodness knows they need the hint. I believe you have the option to send an email by the comments section. Also - have a good tweet about it, people start to sit up and take note from the twitter world nowadays. *Note - I feel I must point out that at no time has Jennifer ever asked me to promote Sis Boom, or have I asked if she would like me to promote it on her behalf. It is simply a case of me loving the fabric ranges and it being noticed. She doesn't even know I've written this post, until I tweet about it later. and a final flourish before ending..... There's even a range of lovely Sis Boom patterns too!