Wednesday, October 3, 2001

Diversity in design

Local woman works with fabric, flowers, furniture

Tiger Lily's Flower Boutique in Sharpsburg is a full-line Teleflora florist with a decided difference.

Owner Jessica Billings left all notions of finishing her studies in design when her mother, antiques dealer Sue Mayhew, gave her the opportunity to go into business on her own.

"I started with the idea that I would go into fashion design, and I do use that in my work with fabrics," she said, referring to the pillow and fabric recovering she does on the furniture she refinishes.

Billings does hand painting on all types of furniture and accessories. Her work was featured in the Street of Dreams home show in Coweta County last spring, and she was also asked to address the first annual Garden Fest at Stone Mountain on Mother's Day.

"I call our style of design 'garden style,'" she said. "We take useful junk and change it into something beautiful."

Recently she has been designing vintage clothing, making center pieces and doing flower arrangements for weddings while decorating area homes. "Our store has a loyal customer following," she said.

Billings' designs are on display at three different locations. Tiger Lily is on Ga. Highway 54 in Sharpsburg's business district, while Mayhew takes her daughter's wares to the LaGrange Expo the first weekend of each month and the Lakewood Antique Market in Atlanta the second weekend of the month.

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