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I listed this trio of pen and ink and arrows in the shop today. There's something about a line drawing surrounded by an ornate frame that is irresistible.
Also irresistible? Elephants. Did you know that their wrinkly skin keeps them cool in high savannah heat? Moisture trapped within the creases does not quickly evaporate. Not sure why that principle doesn't work for wrinkly fifty-year-olds with hot flashes but it doesn't.
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I love politics. But man, do I hate asking for a vote. Today I'm asking for a vote in the Martha Stewart American Made contest. I entered it hoping that someone at that organization would notice my shop. You know, a back door entrance to get on their radar. Now that the contest has progressed, I feel it necessary to see this through and ask for your help. If you are inclined, click here for my page to vote. You do have to give Martha your email. But you can unsubscribe afterwards.
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My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary yesterday. We spent the day with our son and his fiancée, planning their wedding celebration. It will take place next summer on our patio, and yesterday, a fair amount of time was spent discussing the weather. Whether the weather would weather the day. (Apologies to readers whose first language is not English.)
It sprinkled on our wedding, which was held on my parents' patio. It poured on my sister's wedding, which was held on my parents' patio. So I advised my son and future daughter-in-law to expect rain on our patio too.
Rain on a wedding day was once thought to be a good omen. But so was virginity, so to hell with that.
Here's this weekend's listicle loosely categorized around my weekend of l-o-v-e:
This podcast about a Persian marriage and its twisty-turvy journey kept me in the car for 45 minutes despite a very full bladder -- that's how good it is. (Sidenote: the Iranian couple's daughters are shocked and dismayed by the unexpected outcome. We listeners are thrilled.)
Erica Weiner is a Brooklyn jeweler with a vintage obsession. Her Instagram is full of stunning antique wedding bands and engagement rings. Next year is our thirtieth anniversary and I'm bookmarking this band, a reissue of an antique pattern. Very simple and pretty.
Last night, we watched Cutie and the Boxer, an independent documentary about two free-minded artists whose complex marriage and working arrangement are costly to the wife and beneficial to the husband. The first-time director won Sundance's Best Director award, among others.
Food trucks are a popular feature at weddings these days, and yesterday, we went in search of Yellow Bellies Food Truck. Milwaukee peeps, these guys book out at least a year in advance. Their food is to-die-for. Here's their schedule. Hint: they're in Cedarburg every Friday at lunchtime.
No fancy dinner reservations for us last night. Instead, I cooked the best chicken enchiladas ever. I served them with Persian saffron rice, crockpot beans, and a spinach, avocado, corn, tomato, jalapeno pepper salad. I recommend doubling the mole sauce. Divine!
Last but not least, you cannot enter into marriage until you do this.
Campy His and Hers Mugs available here at Finder Not Keeper.
Regardless of your marital status, if you are interested in a vetted list of top notch links, consider subscribing. You'll get an email every Friday morning chock full of good stuff.
Today's post is Part One in a new series called "What Not to Buy New." I've grouped vintage objects into still life compositions to illustrate that the patina of time makes things more beautiful.
I'm not alone in this opinion. This week, Martha Stewart proclaimed that "old is the new black." The latest issue of Veranda Magazine uses the word 'vintage' ten times in the first five articles. The CEO of One King's Lane says that his company can't keep enough vintage in stock to satisfy the thirst of their tens of thousands of customers.
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My American grandmother was a quilter but diabetes stole her sight. She gave me an unfinished box of quilt squares because I had purchased a sewing machine to piece a couple of small quilts. Those quilt squares sat in my cupboard for years. I felt so guilty about them. Eventually I thrust them upon my unsuspecting sister when she got a sewing machine. "A great summer project for your girls!" I enthused.
We all know that starting a project is much easier than finishing. Which could explain how the Missouri Star Quilt Company became so successful. This business offers to finish where many quilters leave off: machine stitching your finished quilt squares into a completed top. The company founders, siblings Alan Doan and Sarah Galbraith Doan, started the company in 2008 to help their parents recover retirement savings lost in the crash. (Remember that year?) They now employ 180 people in their small town of Hamilton, Missouri. This year, they were named Small Business of the Year.
Their recognition coincides with quilting's popularity as a craft. It is hot these days. Modern quilters are reinventing the method using new technologies and refreshing the patterns with a graphic post-modern aesthetic. I love it!
Do you have a quilt made by someone who cared for you? Have you ever stitched a quilt? Are you a fan of textiles? Here are some links that might interest you:
Tomorrow, Maya Angelou's formidable art collection is being auctioned off. Included in the sale is this quilt by Faith Ringgold, commissioned by Oprah Winfrey in 1989 as a 60th birthday gift to Ms. Angelou. The quilt is titled "Maya's Quilt of Life." (I don't understand how Ms. Angelou's family can part with this. I wonder if anyone at the auction house took aside her son and said, "Look, just keep it, okay?")
These two women started a quilt business in Minneapolis and they are now finalists in Martha Stewart's annual American Made contest. I'm considering a purchase for my kitchen wall as their prices seem quite reasonable. And the way they hang quilts is super cool too. Check them out here.
The quilt in the photo above is new in the shop. Click here for info. I love it because the pattern contains Star Wars jets.
If you ever thought about printing your own fabric for a quilt (or for anything), I strongly recommend Spoonflower. Their work is fabulous.
Here is Jasper Conran's nod to hexagon quilting!
See you on Friday!
Photo of quilt by Renn Kuhnen.
Reddit is a gigantic public online forum. Its tagline is "The Front Page of the Internet." Every user has a voice, but most everyone is anonymous. As a result, bad behavior and boorish self-importance abounds. It’s cut-throat.
Reddit divides itself into categories of interest called subreddits. Each subreddit has a moderator who makes up his or her own rules. Kind of like the Wild West with a different sheriff in each town. Redditors must abide by the Sheriff's law. There is no due process in Reddit. “If you don’t like it, you can just gettttttt out.”
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It's Labor Day and on this subject, I have been trying to figure out how to adequately describe the importance of the food supply in my house of men. Due to the number of man-boys (five) and their unusually high rates of metabolism, I always felt like my single most important job as a mother was "gatherer of groceries". I once snapped a pic of the third son home from high school, standing in front of the open fridge with backpack, jacket, gloves, and snow boots on. That's how desperate he was to confirm his snack.
This weekend, we all traveled together up north. My parents came too. My mother, who survives on Tic Tacs and vodka tonics, was freshly shocked at their locust-like behavior. She unloaded the dishwasher twenty times in three days. By the year 2200, someone will have developed a quick test to measure rates of metabolism and I will finally get my due as the woman who fed the five highest metabolisms for twenty years without losing her marbles.
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First of all, I kind of hate auctions. I never feel good about the amount I've paid. Did I buy because the price was good or because I got caught up competing against others? Plus, I've been burned by eBay. It's not like I ever bid $40,000 for a lock of Justin Bieber's hair (remember that?) but I did buy some antique transferware plates that, when arrived, had 'microwave safe' stamped on the back. I felt like I'd been had.
In some ways, the process of an auction can undermine any hope for a trusting relationship between buyer and seller. All focus is on a single transaction in which the seller tries to extract the highest price possible and the buyer must weigh his wants against the market forces and the seller's greed. Awful!
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