Lets talk about Ice.

We live in Mesa, AZ where ice is an essential part of our existence. Not just any ice either. We don’t drink coffee but we take a coffee break just the same, well a soda break. Two or three times a day we head down to Circle K to get our addiction. I’d like to say that it’s the soda, you know with all caffeine in it, but that’s not entirely true. No it’s really the ice.  If we were going for the soda, we would head over to the nearest convenience store and get one. We might even buy a case of soda at the store and keep it around that way. No. No like coffee drinkers we have our little preferences that make our soda perfect! Or I mean our ice.
We load up in the car and drive pass two different Circle K’s before pulling in at OUR Circle K a mile and half away. We also pass up a Chevron and truth be told although QT is awesome we pass them up too. I know it’s crazy but here’s the issue; price, cups and Ice.
No one else in the valley offers a 44 ounce soda for as little as Circle K. How can you beat $0.79? We are compelled slightly by the price. Second, no one else offers a Styrofoam cup that size!  Other places have Styrofoam cups, just none that big. Let me digress, I know that Styrofoam is an evil in this world. I know that we are killing the planet by using them, I make no excuses, only beg forgiveness if I must. The Styrofoam cup keeps our drinks and the ice in them cold for an exceptional amount of time. If you have ever lived in a place where 118*F is a regular temperature for about six weeks straight then you know how important cool liquid is. We’re being slowly baked alive here!
Third and most important, ICE!
Circle K is the only vendor with the small crush ice. This ice we often call micro pellet ice. QT has pellet ice and a lot of other Circle K locations have it too, but I’m talking about the small stuff. It is often used in sports medicine and in fact whenever anyone needs to ice down a injury (we have 7 kids three husbands and ourselves, someone seems to hurt themselves on a rotational schedule.)
It seems counter-intuitive I know. This ice has more surface area and therefore melts faster than any other ice cube out there. I know but it is also perfect crammed into the cup as Mardell likes it. She drinks her soda down and then crunches her ice all day, or sometimes she pours water in and drinks that down before crunching it. I don’t like my soda too watered down so I fill mine half way up and drink fast. Rachel is likely the most sane one of the bunch, she just drinks her soda.
Whatever we do we have to have our soda and ice! We are really grateful for the amazing lives we live that we can be so picky about ice!

First Aid Bag!

So we (Marble Hill) sold our first First Aid Bag this last week. I love the idea of this bag, it’s so functional. It went out to a member of our wonderful Armed Forces.  We embroidered Dauntless on it. What an inscription! I thought this bag would be great in the home but especially on camping trips or in the car or day trips to the beach and stuff. I’m so pleased and excited that the first one we send out is going to someone who might drag it all over creation defending and serving our country. This is what makes this so amazing and worth it. Thank you for believing in us.

How it all began.

It all started with a little girl named Jayne. Jayne liked to sew and she was exceptionally good at it from a young age. Her inquisitive nature and brilliant mind became an asset to her family as she raised five boys and one lone daughter. She believed in women rights and equality in a wonderful way and raised all her children equally teaching her boys to sew just like her daughter and encouraging her daughter to learn construction skills alongside the boys from their father.

Her daughter Mardell always a quick learner, recognized the luxury she had in her mother when she began to sew as a young girl. See, Mardell had all customized clothing. She learned quick that if she could think of it her mother could sew it. Mardell soon fostered a burning passion for clothing and style. She pursued a fashion degree while raising her three children.

Along her path in life she became friends with me (Leae). We met in Junior High and by the time we could both drive I was the sister that Mardell never had. And Mardell’s family was a second family to me. While not having the same love of Fashion Mardell had, I had a fondness for creativity. I tend towards writing and business. Mardell and I work off each other so flawlessly and spark each others creativity and problem solving, making us a dynamic duo.

Rachel is Mardell’s cousin, and while younger by some 15 years, Rachel is like a twin to Mardell separated by family and years but not fashion or spunkiness. They found each other as adults when Rachel went to visit San Diego and crashed at Mardells for the week. They became instantly bonded for life. Rachel and I met a few months later when I gave her a lift out to San Diego again for Mardells daughter’s birthday celebration. She loves fashion and style and she has an eye for perfection and trends.

The three of us hit it off! Husbands, children, school, and moving have only served to cement our bond of insane friendship. We started Marble Hill in February of 2013 as a way for us all to be stay at home mothers and still feed our passion for creativity. Jayne has remained a constant in all our lives all these years. An example, a mother, an aunt and a friend. She has tutored us and patiently taught us how to perfect our sewing and crafting, she is just as excited as we ever are about new projects and she in a genius with how to do things.

We decided on the name Marble Hill Design Studio because Mardell once lived on Marble Hill in New York. And because we wanted to do more than just sew and sell bags. We wanted to design and create, and be the women we wanted to be; Entrepreneurs, Mothers, Wives, and Friends.

Welcome to our crazy, fun, loving life! When you buy something from us you are getting something made with ingenuity, creativity, dedication affection and love. Thank you for letting us touch your life.

Hostile Member

Isaac is Rachel’s two year old son. He is adorable. He is constantly mumbling in his little boy babble language that just charms us all to pieces. But two year olds are only charming for a few minutes a day.

Under foot in the sewing room.  

We started this business to be mothers at home and still live our dreams, and we love how it’s working out for us. Isaac though is a hostile member of the business. He is the only one out of all our children who is not in school and so he is with us all day. Mostly he tries to readjust every sewing machine in the room.

The other day we had to drive into Phoenix to get supplies from our friends at Keyston Bros. (A great gold color ostrich vinyl!) A customer had made a special request and we are eager to please. Anyway Isaac had to come with us as always, but he was not happy about the car seat. Isaac always wants to “go”  and in his mind I think “go” means he sits in the drivers seat and presses and turns every button and knob he can reach, which by the way is almost all of them.

Not the car seat again!

Sometimes the teenagers hang with him so he can drive.

We let him do this because there's no harm in it, I just have to shut off the windshield wipers and correct the A/C or heater and readjust all my mirrors before I go anywhere.

Well he loves to “go” when we let him play in the front seat, but he hates it when we make him sit in the car seat and get buckled. (‘Cause what kid doesn’t hate that?) Poor Rachel is always so patient with him too, and with three of us to help him through the day even his hostile membership in this company doesn't slow us down or break our smiles. What a blessing to be able to do it all!

Finally they are leaving me alone

Capote for the Boy Scouts.

What's a Capote? It's a long jacket or coat with a hood worn by Cowboys and Ranchers and soldiers. It's a lot like a trench coat, but with a hood and small cape.

Anyway we made a Capote.

In our area there is a Campout for the Boy Scouts in the district, where they go up near Payson for a winter campout for four days. It's called The Mountain Man Rendezvous. Several of the troops attending make a Capote, usually by hand, so in their troops they all match. The Boys also make knives and sheaths and other small things to trade with during the campout. So this one boy in the troop decided to go last minute and his mother, who doesn't sew, asked us to make his Capote.

Uh, ok. Twist our arms!

B.S. brought a pattern and a small opinion with him as well as a nice wool blanket. We laid the pattern out and Mardell starts asking him questions like:

"Do you want a collar inside the hood?" or "How long do you want it? "and "Do you want a long cape or short one? and things like that. This kid is only 14 or so and he doesn't have very much opinion about what it looks like, only how long it was and could we make the neck less itchy?

Well let me tell you, if you don't have an opinion about things then Mardell either sends you away until you do, or she dismisses you and we get to play! Which is exactly what we did.  B.S. helped us cut the pattern out and then went and hung out with the other boys in the house.

"We should put leather trim on it" Mardell says to me. Sounds great so I go pilfering through the scrap leather in the bucket.  First order of business, stylish front patch pockets! With a nod to an original Mountain Man, Levi Strauss himself, I go for a Levi type embellishment on the pockets.

While I do that, Mardell is like lightning with the construction of the Capote and even though it about as complicated as a bath robe she has the main section put together just as I finish cutting out the pockets. We called the boy in and measured where the pockets and belt go and went back to work.  I cut the belt loops out of the scrap leather while she sewed the pockets all up and onto the front.

About this time she remembers that her son, Sullivan needs some finishing touches made to his Capote as well and has him bring it in while we are working on Capotes anyway. I proceed to cut out leather embellished pockets and belt loops for his too.

Now let me pause here... Mardell's dream life would include costume making. She often talks about costumes from movies the way I talk about plot and story lines. She sees and remembers more details about what people are wearing than I ever realized. And like I remember stories, she remembers outfits. To be given creative license designing custom clothing is like giving her candy. She gets excited and giddy and both the giddy excitement and the creativeness is contagious.

"Oh! Let's put fringe on the capes!" She calls out from the sewing machine. And like a glutton for her punishments I say ok.

Back to the leather scraps I go.

"And he needs a leather belt too Leae." She says without even looking up or anything. So a three in belt is found, even if we sewed it together in the back.  Fringe strips were next. Now the nice thing about fringing leather onto  a circle cape is that as long as it's the right width for the length of fringe you want (in this case 3") it can be any length of strip you can find in the scraps. It doesn't have to be the same curve as the bottom of the cape, because, well you get to fringe it and then it lays perfectly flat!

Mardell sewed the fringe strips on one Capote and started on the next. I start fringing. 1/4 of an inch at a time slicing the leather until the whole thing was done. Ah the monotony! And then do the next. My hand and shoulder were tired and starting to burn.  But it starts to look like this and it gets so cool.

We call the boys in and make them try them on and say what needs to change or whatever and  we notice that the capes don't want to stay put in the front since they're  really only attached along the back.  After fussing it for a minute we decide buttons must be added and finding two silver ones Mardell fastens them in place while a slightly nervous boy watched the needle in her hand, hoping she didn't bury it in his chest.  Sullivan got buttons as well, but he had actually made his own with his grandpa the week before.

The boys looked great! They were sure going to stay warm in those Capotes up in the mountains and a quick fun couple of hours for us!

Onto the next Project!

Welcome to Marble Hill!!

Hello world! How are you?

This is the blog of Marble Hill Design Studio, where you can find all sorts of great custom couture creations. 

We are a a creative group of Gals who love to sew, invent, and laugh. We love custom, couture and whimsy. We are constantly trying new projects and meeting new challenges. We want to make the best things in life for you to celebrate yours with.
Our goal is to create luxurious gifts for you and yours with a personal touch. If we can help bring a smile to the faces of those you love then we have done what we set out to do. Let us make what you want.

Watch this space over the next few weeks for a variety of fantastic events and giveaways!!!