week 68 - we're inspired...

we are all inspired by something...perhaps you are inspired by a sunny day, or maybe a favorite fashion catalogue you get in the mail? well, we have realized that mesh is not only inspired by travel and window shopping...we are also inspired by countless other things! mesh is going to start sharing everything we are inspired by. please don't hesitate to chime in on our blogs, posts, etc... as we want to know what inspires you too!

this week our inspiration is a medium for creative displays that most people have in some shape or form within their home....bookshelves! the possibilities of a basic bookshelf are endless. there are color combinations and textural variations that you can't help but get inspired by. whether it carries a collection of books or timeless treasures you have collected over the years, it is difficult to ignore a filled bookshelf. i always gravitate towards visuals of bookshelves. i have a bookshelf image hanging just over my laptop at work that i must have ripped out of a magazine during my first week in my workstation 6 years ago...and somehow the image is still relevant. i love the photo of some stranger's living room bookshelves, and the worldly decor that they exhibit.

i have one small bookshelf in my living room that is forever evolving. sherry has a favorite bookshelf that can be found at design within reach. where would we find your favorite

bookshelf?!

keep the inspiration coming!

on the table | new one of a kind creations for our mia sorella delivery next week!

weeks 53 through 55 - r & d

i started this blog 3 weeks ago...before leaving for my spring break getaway...and i was apparently lacking inspiration...

'on this rainy evening in chicago, i am sitting in my sister's living room brainstorming blog topics with my dad - after the quick intro i gave him on what a 'blog' is...and then a brief seinfeld rant that he went into about one of peterman's urban sombrero blogs - we have now established that this week's blog will be on mesh's r&d...research and development that is

after further brainstorming while visiting the island of vieques off of puerto rico - where wild horses roam and white sand beaches flow seamlessly into crystal clear water - i realized that mesh is in constant r&d mode. we are always thinking of a bigger and better ideas, and while we have many dreams for mesh and our growing inventory of 'must haves', we have to pace ourselves.

so...now that i have lived through an inspired vacation filled with vibrant color schemes, bold textural combinations, and SUNSHINE; this week's mesh production night is sure to be flooded with new ideas, concepts, and strategies on how to retain our momentum and energy through 2011!

it is amazing what a simple plane ride, and a few days of reading design magazines while basking in the sun, really does to rejuvinate the creative soul. stay tuned for new and exciting mesh endeavours. it is only a matter of time until we really start concuring all of our wildest dreams!

-melissa

on the table | notes of inspiration for tuesday's production night

week 51 - late night

after a late sunday night mandarin/english conference call with my shanghai project team; i just got off a monday night call with our latest design partner in hong kong. first, i am very disappointed in myself that i have never learned a second language, beyond my 7 years of spanish that i barely made it through in high school and college... second, it amazes me that someone on the other side of the world can accommodate my lack of motivation/brain capacity to learn a second language, by speaking to me in english. while there is always a slight barrier between our phrases and speech patterns...sometimes more than slight...i can only be thankful that my teammates speaking to me in their second or third laguage have taken the steps to accommodate their counterparts around the world. this makes me want to take up a language...what shall it be?!

aside from this worldly epiphany...mesh had a very productive evening tonight. six new necklaces ready to find a home, and a vacation afternoon scheduled next week for a buying trip! we can't wait to update you on our 2011 finds!

-melissa


on the table montage delights!

week 48 - window inspiration

as i was scrolling through my facebook posts today, one of my all time most inspiring topics came up - anthropologie's windows. yes, their windows are nothing short of amazing; I could stand in front of them for days trying to figure our who's mind came up with the creations of reusing trinkets, treasures, paper, cardboard, and making them into something beautiful. similar to what mesh is all about with our reuse of ordinary things and making them extraordinary.

one recent example of a window i loved was in their nyc meat packing district shop last month. the window had fans blowing at a plethora of vintage price tags that had been made into a skirt. okay...this sounds like it could be a colossal mess, although it was so well done, that you actually envisioned the tags as a skirt, before looking at them as a slew of old price tags. this particular store also had a flowing glam skirt made out of tissue paper a few years ago...one that has been stuck in my head since i spotted it.

we have to use these sources of inspiration to move us forward with our creations...it is always the concepts that you think - 'i wish i could create something to that extreme' - that actually push you to eventually doing so.

we are pushing the envelope with mesh this year. watch for our 'window' creations in the months to come!

-melissa

on the table | custom creations to send out to oprah and michelle this week.

week 39 - small fans

so, this past weekend was actually christmas for my family! i know it’s early…but my husband and I are heading to south carolina for the 25^th. of course I took all the mesh goods down state with me! last minute christmas shopping from the dining table is the best way to go. turns out, my sister in law also has a new years eve wedding to attend…so she needed the glitz clutch that we have been dying for someone to own! i’m glad it’s gone to a good home.

my 3 year old niece tried on every piece of mesh goods on the table minus the earrings which she was very confused as to why she couldn’t try on. i told her she didn’t have holes in her ears…and she thought otherwise.

anyhow, the real excitement were the bangles. i know most of you have seen these already, but they were a hit with my four nieces, who thought they needed to wear every bangle at the exact same time.

last year, melissa and I worked with an artist in florida who hand paints one-of-a-kind bangles. her specialty is india mhendi. because i work with an organization that rescues and cares for vulnerable orphan children in india, we thought that hiring her to design this collection for mesh was a perfect fit!

a portion of the proceeds benefit the girl’s college fund in india. thank you to everyone who purchased a bangle this year. just tonight i wrote a check to the organization that supports these girls in support of their education! thank you for changing lives this christmas!

-sherry

on the table – 10 bangles left! $15 stocking stuffer sale!

week 38 - holiday traditions

with the holidays upon us, family traditions are in full effect...there is nothing better than listening to kenny rogers christmas carols with my parents or making the ever so famous mahoney irish creme with my husband's family.

as we all know, it is hard to find dull moment during the holiday season, which is what makes it the perfect time of year to be thankful for what we have surrounding us. it is so easy to get caught up in the logistics of gift buying for a handful of relatives that have everything they would ever need; cooking for a house full of people with different taste buds; or getting your christmas mailers out before you miss the USPS deadlines for delivery.

while this season maximizes potential for the inevitable family drama, it also creates extreme opportunities for memorable moments with the people you so rarely spend an entire day vegging out with. be thankful for all of the sensational gifts, food, and christmas cards you receive; and realize that everyone you have gifted, fed, and mailed to is thankful to have you as a part of their lives.

at the risk of getting too emotional for the monday night mesh blog, just remember to enjoy everything the holiday season brings!

-melissa

on the table | mesh packages to be shipped all over the country tomorrow!

week 36 - mesh boutique...almost

for those of you who will be joining us this weekend in our newly developed living rooms/mesh boutiques, we can't wait for you to see all of the new and refreshed goods we have in store. as we have noted in many recent email blasts, blog entries, and facebook posts, we are getting geared up for a full weekend of mesh sales and holiday festivities. sherry and i are both hosting a mesh open house this weekend (check out our FB events for more details, if you haven't already). this monday's mesh production quickly turned into boutique merchandising in sherry's living room. sherry's husband tagging product, sherry coordinating displays, and me hanging t-shirts for the taking...rounded out of course by holiday tunes from bing crosby and the like! we are getting in to the holiday spirit over here at mesh. come visit with us in all of our glory on saturday and sunday from 10am to 2pm! looking forward to catching up over some peppermint coffee and mesh anniversary cookies (thanks to Cookie Cards in Palatine)!

on the table | every piece of current mesh inventory...including one furry medallion. yes, you heard me...one furry medallion...believe it when you see it in all of it's splendor this weekend!

week 32 - happy birthday mesh !

yes, you read it correctly last week when melissa just happened to mention that mesh is turning 5 years old this month!

well, tonight we made our 650th necklace! hard to believe this feat sometimes after an innocent brunch meeting together in 2005. little did we know a spontaneous scheming session about our un-named business venture which would later be known as mesh!

a lot has happened in 5 years! we moved from only designing one-of-a-kind necklaces to purses, then bangles…to selling pretty much everything a girl could ever need! personally we’ve both gotten married, traveled the globe, and become great friends. spending every monday night together for years does that! i also have learned that melissa’s husband makes a mean peanut butter & jelly sandwich every monday night for work the next day…and i might add is a real enthusiast about his nightly ironing! (shout out - i’m thankful he puts up with us at their home weekly!)

mesh marks its birthday by the annual show we participate in at the merchandise mart called IIDA bizarre bazaar. it’s where mesh began! In honor of our birthday month, we will be celebrating by marking ALL mesh products $5 off for the entire month of November!

don’t assume we will be taking this birthday lying down! we have big plans for 2011. the monday night scheming has continued. look for some big news from us in the spring. but in the meantime, we are thankful to our loyal supporters and blog readers!

on the table | dreams for 2011

-sherry

p.s. i googled 'five' tonight. despite the findings including the jackson five, five guys burgers, and hawaii 5-0...i thought i would stick to these more literal images.

week 31 - readers

this post is dedicated to kathy and kelly...and all of our weekly readers. we deeply apologize for the short post last week, and hope to make up for it today. really, i can't believe how many of you are out there and depending on our monday night post to make your tuesday morning a sensation...okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, although i am truly impressed that we have readers at all...so thanks!

sherry and i have been off of our weekly beading nights, due to busy travel schedules over the past month or so. we see each other at our shows as we haul our goods out of our cars and into our venue for the evening. we have been meshing for so long now that we don't really have to see each other to run this side business of ours as a team. we are already coming up on our 5 year anniversary show, IIDA bizarre bazaar at the mart (november 11th, 5:30-8:30pm). i can't believe it has been that long already...this was our first show in november of 2005! yowsa, how time flies.

we are doing everything we can to inspire ourselves and keep everyone surrounding us intrigued. we have a spectacular new year of products around the corner and can't wait for you all to share in the excitement.

as i was beading our six-hundredth (or so) one-of-a-kind necklace tonight, i can't help but think of where they all are. i hope they are not in your dresser drawers waiting for a special occasion, because tuesday is an occasion enough to make a mesh statement...even if it is faceted glitz, offset by multi colored felted wool balls...work it mid-week!

on the table | over-stated combos

-melissa

week 29 - shanghai

as you have read in the past few posts, i survived my first trip to shanghai. although it was a 14 hour flight there (12.5 hours back), it did not feel at all like I was half-way around the globe. in fact, the city itself was a bustling mecca of everyday people working their tails off to make a living...much like those in the u.s. of a. it actually reminded me a lot of nyc, as it was filled with lights everywhere i turned (other than in the slightly creepy dark alleys). there is led lighting on the river boats, the buildings, the cabs in some cases, etc... in fact, there is a code there that every new building must light up to some extensive degree from dusk until 1am...the place is truly ablaze. other than the fact that i could not read the signage...i would have thought i was in the middle of times square at midnight.

as i mentioned, the alleys were a bit less lit than the bulk of the city, although far too thrilling to avoid. we were guided through the 'secret' shops by our very own 'personal shopper'. he was dedicated to us, to say the least, and actually may have been the only reason we made it back to the hotel that night...slightly sketchy. it was quite fun to see all that these little hidden shops had to offer; whether it was silk scarves we were looking for, or discs of tea leaves, or jade and pearl necklaces...our guy knew exactly where to find it all. the people in these shops were more than friendly when they saw our faces walk in the door...little did they know that we knew how to barter with the best of them...even with a slight language barrier :)

i can't wait to visit the city again to discover all that the true markets have to offer...stay tuned, as i believe my next trip will already be in a few weeks.

-melissa

on the table | quilt square clutches prepped and ready to go to their new home at Salon Rhapsody in Frankfort, IL.