week 21 - monday night home | show

tonight was an extraordinary mesh monday night, as we were surrounded by an home full of mesh-worthy models.

we were invited to transform kathy's sky-high place downtown into a full-on boutique for the evening...and the event was a pure success! as always, kathy and kelly put together a wonderful evening of food, friends, skyline views, and mesh :) thanks so much to both of you for your wonderful hospitality and your sensational taste in necklaces and people!

it was so much fun to watch as the accessories added up on everyones' ensembles throughout the evening. we love when someone spots a piece they have to have as soon as they walk in the door. it is amazing to watch the process we all go through when debating on what we can rationalize adding to our wardrobe. there is no doubt that everyone needs a new bauble for an average tuesday at work...so why not start the week out right with a monday night homeshow?!?!

THANK YOU LADIES!!!
-mesh

week 15 - tech savvy

as much as us mesh ladies hate to admit that we are not the most technologically advanced business women out there, there are times that it is far too blatant to ignore. as i have been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to figure out why my wireless internet is not working, even after plugging my laptop into the ethernet cable (i know that terminology, because the cable has a sticker on it that says it is an ethernet cable), brian brought it to my attention that i was in fact directly plugged in to our new blu-ray player (using terminology again that the machine sitting in front of me is labeled with). i am now sitting with my legs under our new 'entertainment credenza'...showcasing my impeccable posture...due to my amazingly tight wire management work completed earlier today. i thought i was being extremely neat and efficient, until I actually had to utilize the wires that i had 'managed'.

so, now i type...we have been updating our place/mesh headquarters over the past few weeks, slowly but surely. it is a very inspirational project, until i run into hiccups like above. today we took a field trip downtown, to take care of all of our errands within a 10 block walking radius. so that is why people live in the city. it was great to be out and about on yet another day off of work this summer. we hit up jayson home and garden, cb2, and the container store, all of which are inspirational hot spots in their own way. it is so much fun to check out the eclectic simplicity of jayson home and garden, while wondering what it would take to find a similar piece at a flea market for a fraction of the price. it is equally as energizing to wander though cb2 and figure out how you could possibly make a chartreuse cube table work in your home. the container store is not to be a forgotten store of bland, but amazingly functional items. i could wander around these stores for hours on end looking for nothing, although today we were on a mission...and brian was with me, which typically means we are walking ten paces faster than my standard stride, and we are getting through our to do list in record time. it was a very productive day, and i am looking forward to a more than productive week scheduling upcoming mesh shows and adding custom ribbon to our latest and greatest selection of baubles!

on the table trying to figure out how to get mesh onto the fox news ladies tonight...they are in desperate need of our help!

-melissa

week 10 - small town america

i love chicago. summer fireworks, the new wing at the art institute, pizza art café in lincoln square, my neighborhood’s energy during the blackhawks finals….there is so much to soak in. but, every now and again, I like to escape to something a little closer to my roots…to small town america.

i grew up in a midwest town with one stoplight…that just blinked red. this weekend, my husband surprised me and planned an escape to a similarly small town. we took a trip to galena, illinois (population 3,400).

it was nice to be in small town america on memorial day weekend. somehow, the american flags seemed brighter and the clouds looked fluffier.

galena felt very familiar to my upbringing…surrounded by farms, banana bread that was exactly like my grandma’s, and coffee that just isn’t the starbucks i’ve become addicted to. however, it is also very different than my home town… as it is so rich in history, hosting ulysses s. grant’s home and the oldest operating hotel in Illinois. (which is where we stayed!) the shopping was fun…I think we strolled through every boutique on main street... there had to have been hundreds. despite being ultra relaxed, I was wondering…”how does mesh break into the galena scene?”

our best meal was at the perry street brasserie. i really thought i was in chicago. the food was beautifully displayed and was perfectly prepared. It was really a highlight of our trip.

i left galena feeling i had been on a journey far, far away. I would recommend it to anyone trying to get out of the city for a little relaxation and revival.

-sherry

week 9 - inspired by travel

sherry and i have both traveled to amazingly beautiful cities around the world, and we have been determined to bring our favorite aspects of these cities to our mesh creations. you will find trinkets from greece and beads from rome on our one-of-a-kind necklaces. you will also find photos from my honeymoon to barcelona on our collection of graphic t-shirts*. we also have a friend (shout out to richard) that inspires us by taking photos of beadshops and jewelry he finds while wandering around his hometown of london. we are always intrigued with the styles and color trends that can be found in different corners of the world.

*photo taken of a street performer on the streets of barcelona...don't worry, he's wearing a helmet!...find this photo in a graphic format on our travel collection ts.

in every city we visit, we are determined to find more unique items than we found on our last trip. our finds keep us current with trends that are happening all over the world. keep you eyes peeled for our latest and greatest travel inspriations!

-melissa

week 7 - home|show prep!

well, here we are in week 7 of our monday night kitchen table blog! thank you for continuing to read about our latest and greatest endeavors. our facebook page seems to be taking mesh fans by storm, as we now have 85 whole people following our every post, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

this week we are in mass production mode...not as in making a bundle of the same thing on a production line...but as in taking every little and large trinket out of the credenza and making something of them.

we have a home|show coming up on saturday (shout out again to nici and the ladies of plainfield) that we are prepping for, along with a handful of other home|show events coming in the summer months. why not start off your summer right with a girls night in and mesh?! contact us to get on the growing list of sale locations. we can't wait to see you!

-mesh

on the table | combining classic oak park with novel new york

week 5 - spring bling success

Last Thursday night was our 3^rd Annual Spring Bling Event at the Izzy Showroom in the Merchandise Mart. Wow! This event gets better and better every year for mesh! Thank you again to the Spring Bling Hosts for continuing to invite us!...and a BIG thank you to our supporters who come every year!

In addition to our classic one-of-a-kind necklaces, mesh launched a list of new accessories which included rings, scarves, hair clips and purses. They were a hit! By an overwhelming response we have concluded that citron yellow has not yet faded as our first love. And bold purple…takes a close second place this season.

What’s next for mesh? We have two home sales booked for next month and will be working diligently to replenish our stock for those! Thanks to Alli & Nici for hosting these sales!

We also greatly appreciate all of the boutique contacts we received at Spring Bling! We will keep you posted on any new shops that we lucky enough to showcase our goods in.

For those of you who have inquired about purchasing a one-of-a-kind crazy quilt clutch from our “Marilyn’s Revival” collection, we have uploaded some of those onto etsy for purchase. http://www.mesh.etsy.com/

-mesh

week 3 - spring bling!

The time is here again for Spring Bling @ Izzy! Spring Bling has been our annual spring sale for the past 3 years, and we hope to see you there this year! The event will be held on Thursday, April 22nd in the Izzy showroom, on the 11th floor of the Merchandise Mart. This event is always hosted by the wonderful mesh supporters at Izzy furniture and Tandus carpet. There will be a total of 10 vendors at this year's Spring Bling, showcasing a variety of products. Come check it out...free of charge!

mesh will be debuting a NEW variety of products ranging from rings, scarves, and hand bags; aside from our ever so inspiring one-of-a-kind necklace creations. We can't wait to display our Spring 2010 inventory together, creating 'mesh picks' for the season. Here is a sneak peek...

You can't make it to Spring Bling? We'll bring the show to you! Please let us know if you and a group of your friends are at all interested in having us bring our latest and greatest inventory into your home for a trunk show. We are ready and more than willing to show off all of our new goods!

Happy Spring!

-mesh

week 1 - spring time bibs

It is mesh Monday again…how do these weeks fly by so quickly?!

Spring is in the air, and I am feeling inspired! The more the sun shines, the more mesh-driven I become. There are so many things that inspire us to keep going with this little business of ours. Inspiration finds us in many places, including the sunshine: a flight above the clouds to a project destination; a magazine article about someone we aspire to be like; MLS photos of abandoned homes that we hope to live in and revive someday; displays at stores that are so creative, they make us want to go home and start reworking a wall in our living rooms…the list goes on and varies greatly. If only there were more time in a day, perhaps all of these inspirations would lead us to our mesh dreams.

So...back to reality, we are meshing tonight, and that can only mean one thing…I need to catch Sherry up on all of my amazing new shoes that I found on DEEP discount this weekend...okay, so it means other things too. We need to start producing our spring line! We are working on multiple ‘new wave’ creations including, but not limited to, bib neckwear. Yes, you know all of these bibs that you see women wearing around town. It is obvious who purchased theirs off of a production line shelf, and who’s was hand crafted with the most exquisite trinkets you have ever seen! mesh will of course follow the latter protocol for these one of a kind creations…and see what in the world we can come up with at the kitchen table. We just invested in a slew of AMAZING vintage appeal broaches to add to this collection. These one of a kind bibs will be obvious statement pieces created from ‘grandma’s entire jewelry drawer’ J

What do you think of this bib style necklace? What inspires you?

-melissa

mesh has arrived !

Yes! mesh has a blog! I think this makes us really official.

What do you do on Monday nights? Well, on any given Monday, you will find mesh at Melissa’s kitchen table in Oak Park, Illinois. Whether its beading necklaces, strategizing about our next product launch or trying to figure out those darn sales tax forms…mesh is in action!

Everyone asks…When DO you guys do this with your full time jobs…and side gigs…and personal lives….

This is what it looks like. We leave work on 5:00 on Mondays. Sherry usually stops and grabs dinner in route, while Melissa makes her famous quesadillas in the microwave in 1:00 minute flat. Then we pull every bin and box of creative goods out of the table side credenza and we destroy the entire kitchen in about 6 minutes. Really, it looks like a tornado of beads, fabric and ribbon just ripped through town. ..Wizard of Oz Style. We work on our “project of the night” while tediously discussing everything that has happened in each of our lives in the last 6 days...work, wedding details, shopping excursions, dreams of travel, haircuts…etc.…..then sluggishly put everything back in the credenza about 9:00 p.m.

Here is the plan…2010 is going to be the BIG year for mesh. Why? I’m glad you asked. mesh is expanding. Certainly we will always hold true to our first love…one-of-a-kind chunky-funky beaded necklaces. It’s what put us on the map! Our follow up collections of T-shirts, quilt clutches, bangles…they have been successful also….but we have so much more inspiration in us!

The Blog is our next step…to the ever expanding craze known as ‘mesh’.

Our next show is Spring Bling…on the evening of Thursday, April 22 at The Merchandise Mart…more details to follow!

melissa & sherry