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Sunday, December 28, 2008

A Bureau of Friends

As I sit in my winter living room and look out the window, I think about what an amazingly full, rich, intense year it has been. I recently made the joke that I sometimes I feel like Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) in Blade Runner… when I am lying on my death bed, I will say, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain....”

 

 

I feel lucky, blessed, and grounded to have recently met so many new acquaintances to add to the dear old friends who fill my cup with inspiration. While sitting on a couch late one afternoon in South Africa, I decided that I want to take a moment each month to talk about one of these rich, rich souls who has enriched my life.

 


From painter Judith Eisler, woman extraordinaire Marsha Guerrero, documentarian Davia Nelson, woman of style Julie Gilhart, film maker Jennifer Venditti, writer/stylist/foodie Angie Mosier, and hero Alice Waters, to designer Christina Kim, I want to highlight work that I find world changing, heartfelt and inspirational.

 


So is born "A Bureau of Friends." Stay tuned for monthly stories.

 


Here’s a wish that 2009 may continue to be a great adventure…

 

 
Posted at 3:20 pm
Saturday, December 20, 2008

Good Enough To Eat

Okay. Sorry to send you to the same place two days in a row... BUT I am SO making these caramels over the weekend!

Holiday Gifts Good Enough To Eat

**And scroll on to the bottom for Chocolate Truffles and Flavored Salt!

Posted at 6:52 am
Friday, December 19, 2008

How To Bake The Perfect Cookie

From All Things Considered:

Shirley Corriher of Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking, shares with us a fantastic holiday baking secret & the recipe for her favorite Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

Happy Holiday Baking!

Posted at 6:34 am
Thursday, December 18, 2008

Furoshiki - The "Green" Wrapping

While visiting Boston recently, my hosts at the Museum of Fine Arts gave all of the attendees this flyer about Furoshiki.

The term describes “a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that was frequently used to transport clothes, gifts or other goods.”



"Although there are still Furoshiki users in Japan, their numbers declined in the post-war period, in large part due to the proliferation of the plastic shopping bag. In recent years, it has seen a renewed interest as environmental protection became a concern."

What a great “green” way to use any available cloths to wrap your holiday gifts…


& see a video demo here.

 

 

& THANKS to the Fashion Council for a lovely event!

 
Posted at 4:06 pm
Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Outliers: The Story of Success

It really is as good as they say… I am obsessed:

Outliers: The Story of Success from Malcolm Gladwell

Posted at 6:16 am
Friday, December 12, 2008

Website Working - Again

We have been experiencing some trouble with our new website. Our apologies to all and thanks for your patience while we grow - it has been a great (if painful) learning experience! The good news is that everything seems to be working again & the pages actually load before you can get your cup of tea or read the newspaper...

Jessica posted some new colors to the project kits from Alabama Stitch Book in our online store, added a few more sewing supplies and is working diligently at getting things cleaned up. It should just keep getting better and better from this day forward.

Posted at 3:00 pm
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Dinner Social - Part 2

The winners of the first Dinner Social have been posted to http://www.aveceric.com/ and each of the winners received a camera from Olympus.

How great is that? Have dinner and drinks with friends & win a camera.

The new recipes have been posted and they are fantastic… friend (and colleague) Angie Mosier took the lovely photographs.

Happy Holidays: http://www.aveceric.com/

Posted at 5:35 am
Monday, December 8, 2008

American Craft

Here is a great holiday gift idea:

$20 for a one year subscription – 6 issues - to the beautiful new American Craft magazine - Order Here.
Posted at 5:19 am
Friday, December 5, 2008

View on Color

“As we abandon long-established notions of the past and truly embrace this young century, the agricultural community will become the planet’s new elite, dominating our essential needs and inspiring years of farmer styles. After all, the farmers of the future will clothe us, house us, feed us, fuel us and hopefully even heal us. Ultimately they will be able to engineer design and grow furniture in a symbiosis of technology and biology, and therefore rural and urban lifestyles will merge and become one; resulting in an inversed social landscape with a greener city and a more contemporary countryside.

We will see vertical farming in the inner cities and the return of smaller luxury farms in the countryside to handle the market for fresh niche products, while arid areas of the globe will be used to power solar plants and farm new kinds of bio fuels. The farm will even become a destination for beauty and learning as well as a cradle for new retail strategies and marketplaces for the future.

This rural revival will sustain far into the future, influencing our habitations and interiors….”
 
Li Edelkoort - an excerpt from View on Color – A World of Folk, page 67

Copies of The World of Folk issue can be purchased by contacting Ragna @ EDELKOORT INC - $95.00 + $ 7 shipping

Tel: 212 420 7622 or ragna@edelkoortinc.com
& learn more here: Edelkoort, Inc.
 
 
Posted at 8:26 pm
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Happiest of Holidays

Visit us @ The Factory for our annual Open House & Holiday Cheer on Thursday and Friday, December 4th & 5th…

& browse our website for new products, gifts and accessories now available from our Online Store.

Wishing the Happiest of Holidays to you and yours from all of us @ Alabama Chanin

 
Posted at 6:26 am
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