We're in Eliza Page, I've come up with a few new bracelet designs, our new website is about to launch this week and Kelly W. interior designer extraordinaire bought one of our bracelets and two rings at the Pickwick LA show back in August, so I'm feeling the bump from "creative validation". Busy working, busy working, busy working.
We're supposed to go to F&D sometime this month, god I love that place.
Jim and I finally came close to perfecting our macaron recipe which is killer. Made some preserved lemons, which didn't turn out so great, apparently Sprouts farmers market carries lemons that have been chemical/wax coated, it made all of the preserves really bitter and acrid.
YES, I washed them first. That stuff gets down into the lemons pores. Will have to try it with Meyer lemons next time they are in season. Lame.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Manana manana it's always tamara
Playing the waiting game for 24 hours, tomorrow is my meet up with ES, so here's hoping something awesome comes of that.
The Pickwick show was apparently pretty good despite the Emmy's happening on the same day... Boo. I hate the Emmys.
THOUGH..! On a super positive note one of my A Number One FAV FAV FAV interior design superstars bought one of our bracelets and two of our rings! So rock on with your bad self.. right?
Was interviewed by Splendid Mag and am waiting to hear from another mag on Fall Fashion Affordable Luxury must haves.. Hope we make it.
The Pickwick show was apparently pretty good despite the Emmy's happening on the same day... Boo. I hate the Emmys.
THOUGH..! On a super positive note one of my A Number One FAV FAV FAV interior design superstars bought one of our bracelets and two of our rings! So rock on with your bad self.. right?
Was interviewed by Splendid Mag and am waiting to hear from another mag on Fall Fashion Affordable Luxury must haves.. Hope we make it.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Mod Cons
"Hey, if you let me wear one of your rings to a party next week, so and so will be there maybe she'll see it and I can get you into his/her shop..."
What a poorly thought out idea! So, you want me to hand you a 200. ring to wear to a party in the hope that someone will stop what they're doing and ask about your jewelry and where you got it. Or maybe even buy it right off you on the spot! (Are you high?) And you're pretty sure you can work a business deal for me, at a party, with someone you only know in passing, and all this for the low low price of a free gift of jewelry?
No thanks.
----------------
Sadly I have had this conversation 4 times in the last 2 weeks. It's nice to know people are interested in my work, but I prefer to work my own business deals thanks.
Heard a good one the other day: A new store in another state wants to order less than the minimum order. "Because they don't know me and I might flake out or something.. " Really? And buying 4 pcs instead of 6 is going to prevent flakage how? Personally that's right up there with "this is too big, can you discount it?" because a lower price will make the item instantly smaller or the space available suddenly larger.. Weirdness.
Our wholesale rates have gone up and keeping up with orders is full time. Loving it!
Going to Dallas Design center in a few weeks to look over space for the October show. Neat!
What a poorly thought out idea! So, you want me to hand you a 200. ring to wear to a party in the hope that someone will stop what they're doing and ask about your jewelry and where you got it. Or maybe even buy it right off you on the spot! (Are you high?) And you're pretty sure you can work a business deal for me, at a party, with someone you only know in passing, and all this for the low low price of a free gift of jewelry?
No thanks.
----------------
Sadly I have had this conversation 4 times in the last 2 weeks. It's nice to know people are interested in my work, but I prefer to work my own business deals thanks.
Heard a good one the other day: A new store in another state wants to order less than the minimum order. "Because they don't know me and I might flake out or something.. " Really? And buying 4 pcs instead of 6 is going to prevent flakage how? Personally that's right up there with "this is too big, can you discount it?" because a lower price will make the item instantly smaller or the space available suddenly larger.. Weirdness.
Our wholesale rates have gone up and keeping up with orders is full time. Loving it!
Going to Dallas Design center in a few weeks to look over space for the October show. Neat!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Housewife Fail
Today I wanted to try my hand at haus frau type stuff so I started to make cupcakes..
Decided to get creative, wanted to try cardamom cupcakes with fruit and nuts with a vanilla curry icing.
We like Indian food so why not completely twist it into a cupcake, right?
Bought a box of organic cake mix at Whole Foods, added all the dried fruit, orange peels, cardamom and nuts to the mix, tasted the batter... it tasted a LOT like icing.. looked at the box realized it was a GD box of flippin powdered sugar. For some reason the recipe on the box calling for milk and a softened stick of butter just didn't click that it was a recipe for butter cream frosting. The image on the box is of Yellow Cake and for whatever reason I've never seen a box of powdered sugar sold as "Icing Mix" so I just assumed it was a yellow cake mix.
Basically I had to melt the icing to get all the fruit and nuts strained out. And I just realized that we're out of eggs.
This housewife thing is just not me. LOL
I'll keep trying though...
Decided to get creative, wanted to try cardamom cupcakes with fruit and nuts with a vanilla curry icing.
We like Indian food so why not completely twist it into a cupcake, right?
Bought a box of organic cake mix at Whole Foods, added all the dried fruit, orange peels, cardamom and nuts to the mix, tasted the batter... it tasted a LOT like icing.. looked at the box realized it was a GD box of flippin powdered sugar. For some reason the recipe on the box calling for milk and a softened stick of butter just didn't click that it was a recipe for butter cream frosting. The image on the box is of Yellow Cake and for whatever reason I've never seen a box of powdered sugar sold as "Icing Mix" so I just assumed it was a yellow cake mix.
Basically I had to melt the icing to get all the fruit and nuts strained out. And I just realized that we're out of eggs.
This housewife thing is just not me. LOL
I'll keep trying though...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Knuckle Duster Rings
How nice is it to be included in a blog like Daily Candy??!
http://www.dailycandy.com/dallas/article/84238/Dallas-Events-and-Diversions
Our rings got top billing, I love it! We've been down in Tallahassee at Lulu's farm for the weekend. A lot of family came in from all over the country and the highlight was Dan, Luz, Sondra and Luis making two massive pans of Paella for all the people coming out to the farm for the Tomato Festival. J and I had an excellent time cruising back and forth across the south in the Scion, though we did develop a crack in the windshield around Baton Rouge.
Apparently Scion's are developing cracks due to poorly fitted windshields. We had just received the notice about it right before we left and I set it aside thinking, glad we don't have one.. ha
We left Austin early and hit Gulfport MS at around 9pm, just in time to have an excellent dinner at the Half Shell Oyster House on the beach. I had BBQ Shrimp and grits for the first time and am a total convert. We managed to snag the last room at Holiday Inn as everything in Gulfport has been taken over by white collar types trying to stop the oil spill. The Holiday Inn in Gulfport is brand new and looks like the Standard Hotel on a budget, really well designed for a hotel. They put some thought into it.
The next day we decided that Tallahassee was fairly close at 6 hours and decided to 'meander' our way down the coast. First we took a walk on the beach, which looks a bit like Waikiki, but not really. I managed to step on the one and only tar ball in all of Gulfport. It's yellowish green and has the consistency of gluestick. Fortunately we keep hand lotion in the car and like dissolves like.
For breakfast we stopped at some crab shack and had a mess of fried grouper and crab claws. We ambled down 90 and in Alabama made the requisite stop for boiled peanuts (Spicy AND Regular) then headed for the Mobile tunnel, which was stacked and packed so we took the loop north to the Mobile bridge, that was fun. Mainly it was a good trip.
The Farm is outside of Tallahassee and almost everyone was camping at the farm. Saturday night we had a family dinner for 25, the highlight was Harriet's keylime pies and fresh arugula from the farm. Fun fact: Arugula is extremely peppery when it's fresh, this stuff was FRESH! Zippy doesn't quite cut it, it almost stings.
Lulu imports the craziest selection of balsamic vinegars from Italy, our favorite was the espresso balsamic syrup. If you can get a hold of this stuff, do it!
One of the vendor's for the festival was Sweet Grass Dairy from Georgia, they have a brie that will just knock you out!
There was a serious rain storm on Saturday night which took the heat out and everyone moved to the back porch for a cool breeze. Herman had made some sort of blackberry juice slurry that when mixed with apple juice and vodka makes a killer cocktail.
I bought a ricer today so I can make some of that to keep in our fridge. Luz brought Jim a double pint of homemade peach preserves so he's a happy camper. It was a super food weekend.
On our way home we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Lafayette and the girl at the front desk sent us to "Crayfish Town USA" for dinner. Not kidding, it's in a giant red barn on the side of the road.
It's one of those things where you ask yourself if this is the right thing or if crappy Landry's is the safer bet. It's not.
Crayfish Town USA for one, was packed, with locals. And it's not cheap junk food. They had the most divine sweet potato fries I've ever had. Not sure what they did to them but the outside was SUPER crisp, the inside was wonderfully soft and they didn't have the slightest hint of oil or grease residue. The crayfish were huge and clean, the entrees were wonderful, everything was just really well done. Jim was especially into their rolls which were sweet like King Hawaiian rolls but went somewhere over the rainbow when swabbed with a touch of etouffee.
It was one of those places where you wouldn't mind being stuck for a few days. We now have Lafayette marked as our overnight place for southern road trips.
On our trip we picked up some goodies for Etsy. Today I bought a KILLER champagne bucket and stand by a well known Tulsa jeweler. It needs a couple solder repairs but it's a beautiful piece. Also a great little Blanc de chine chinoiserie centerpiece stand made in Italy circa 1960s.
When I was catching up on my emails this morning, I found we had an order waiting for one of our favorite Mid Century TV shows on AMC! I love prop orders. I don't know why but I get a big kick out of seeing stuff on a big or little screen and thinking, "I sold them that!"
Things continue to roll along. Our peach trees are putting out fruit like little organic factories, and big trash is next week so we'll be able to put out a bunch of stuff that has been waiting to go to the dump. Bonus!
http://www.dailycandy.com/dallas/article/84238/Dallas-Events-and-Diversions
Our rings got top billing, I love it! We've been down in Tallahassee at Lulu's farm for the weekend. A lot of family came in from all over the country and the highlight was Dan, Luz, Sondra and Luis making two massive pans of Paella for all the people coming out to the farm for the Tomato Festival. J and I had an excellent time cruising back and forth across the south in the Scion, though we did develop a crack in the windshield around Baton Rouge.
Apparently Scion's are developing cracks due to poorly fitted windshields. We had just received the notice about it right before we left and I set it aside thinking, glad we don't have one.. ha
We left Austin early and hit Gulfport MS at around 9pm, just in time to have an excellent dinner at the Half Shell Oyster House on the beach. I had BBQ Shrimp and grits for the first time and am a total convert. We managed to snag the last room at Holiday Inn as everything in Gulfport has been taken over by white collar types trying to stop the oil spill. The Holiday Inn in Gulfport is brand new and looks like the Standard Hotel on a budget, really well designed for a hotel. They put some thought into it.
The next day we decided that Tallahassee was fairly close at 6 hours and decided to 'meander' our way down the coast. First we took a walk on the beach, which looks a bit like Waikiki, but not really. I managed to step on the one and only tar ball in all of Gulfport. It's yellowish green and has the consistency of gluestick. Fortunately we keep hand lotion in the car and like dissolves like.
For breakfast we stopped at some crab shack and had a mess of fried grouper and crab claws. We ambled down 90 and in Alabama made the requisite stop for boiled peanuts (Spicy AND Regular) then headed for the Mobile tunnel, which was stacked and packed so we took the loop north to the Mobile bridge, that was fun. Mainly it was a good trip.
The Farm is outside of Tallahassee and almost everyone was camping at the farm. Saturday night we had a family dinner for 25, the highlight was Harriet's keylime pies and fresh arugula from the farm. Fun fact: Arugula is extremely peppery when it's fresh, this stuff was FRESH! Zippy doesn't quite cut it, it almost stings.
Lulu imports the craziest selection of balsamic vinegars from Italy, our favorite was the espresso balsamic syrup. If you can get a hold of this stuff, do it!
One of the vendor's for the festival was Sweet Grass Dairy from Georgia, they have a brie that will just knock you out!
There was a serious rain storm on Saturday night which took the heat out and everyone moved to the back porch for a cool breeze. Herman had made some sort of blackberry juice slurry that when mixed with apple juice and vodka makes a killer cocktail.
I bought a ricer today so I can make some of that to keep in our fridge. Luz brought Jim a double pint of homemade peach preserves so he's a happy camper. It was a super food weekend.
On our way home we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Lafayette and the girl at the front desk sent us to "Crayfish Town USA" for dinner. Not kidding, it's in a giant red barn on the side of the road.
It's one of those things where you ask yourself if this is the right thing or if crappy Landry's is the safer bet. It's not.
Crayfish Town USA for one, was packed, with locals. And it's not cheap junk food. They had the most divine sweet potato fries I've ever had. Not sure what they did to them but the outside was SUPER crisp, the inside was wonderfully soft and they didn't have the slightest hint of oil or grease residue. The crayfish were huge and clean, the entrees were wonderful, everything was just really well done. Jim was especially into their rolls which were sweet like King Hawaiian rolls but went somewhere over the rainbow when swabbed with a touch of etouffee.
It was one of those places where you wouldn't mind being stuck for a few days. We now have Lafayette marked as our overnight place for southern road trips.
On our trip we picked up some goodies for Etsy. Today I bought a KILLER champagne bucket and stand by a well known Tulsa jeweler. It needs a couple solder repairs but it's a beautiful piece. Also a great little Blanc de chine chinoiserie centerpiece stand made in Italy circa 1960s.
When I was catching up on my emails this morning, I found we had an order waiting for one of our favorite Mid Century TV shows on AMC! I love prop orders. I don't know why but I get a big kick out of seeing stuff on a big or little screen and thinking, "I sold them that!"
Things continue to roll along. Our peach trees are putting out fruit like little organic factories, and big trash is next week so we'll be able to put out a bunch of stuff that has been waiting to go to the dump. Bonus!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Good things happen
Good things have been happening in spades lately and we feel so blessed!
Our friends at Foreign and Domestic Food and Drink have been rocking out, the food is INCREDIBLE and it's been such a great addition of a quality business to a quirky little neighborhood with limited sit-down restaurant choices. Love that they are an addition rather than competition to existing restaurants.
My favorite building in that neighborhood is for sale (too much for me to buy) and I really hope another wonderful and unique local business moves in.
Although the lawn chair production did not happen as planned, a little bird has told me that a buyer from Neimans might be calling me sometime soon. OMG. Holy. Cow. Things are moving FAST.
Fortunately I know two someone's who have worked with NM currently and in the past and so I have two different people I can go to with "WWYD" questions =o)
We've been waiting on press for a certain something, the chairs really taught me that it might not matter who did what first, but who gets the most press first.
With that lesson in mind, we've been reluctant to put custom items "out there" before the press is 'in' on it. Weird I know, but it's disappointing to spend the time and make the financial investment to create something and then see another company get "the big hooray".
Oh well, Moving on.
Yesterday we had a studio day, soldering, carving and drilling. It was good fun and we kicked around some ideas. It's great to have a friend who does something somewhat similar to what you do but who has no interest in doing exactly what you do. Too often people see someone doing something unique and want to do the exact same thing. This is never good for friendships.
I've turned down the Tallahassee shop, we are not doing consignments. Period. We ARE doing the Dallas Design Mart in the Fall though! Whoo!
Get ready for the Paramount Summer Film Fest!
Our friends at Foreign and Domestic Food and Drink have been rocking out, the food is INCREDIBLE and it's been such a great addition of a quality business to a quirky little neighborhood with limited sit-down restaurant choices. Love that they are an addition rather than competition to existing restaurants.
My favorite building in that neighborhood is for sale (too much for me to buy) and I really hope another wonderful and unique local business moves in.
Although the lawn chair production did not happen as planned, a little bird has told me that a buyer from Neimans might be calling me sometime soon. OMG. Holy. Cow. Things are moving FAST.
Fortunately I know two someone's who have worked with NM currently and in the past and so I have two different people I can go to with "WWYD" questions =o)
We've been waiting on press for a certain something, the chairs really taught me that it might not matter who did what first, but who gets the most press first.
With that lesson in mind, we've been reluctant to put custom items "out there" before the press is 'in' on it. Weird I know, but it's disappointing to spend the time and make the financial investment to create something and then see another company get "the big hooray".
Oh well, Moving on.
Yesterday we had a studio day, soldering, carving and drilling. It was good fun and we kicked around some ideas. It's great to have a friend who does something somewhat similar to what you do but who has no interest in doing exactly what you do. Too often people see someone doing something unique and want to do the exact same thing. This is never good for friendships.
I've turned down the Tallahassee shop, we are not doing consignments. Period. We ARE doing the Dallas Design Mart in the Fall though! Whoo!
Get ready for the Paramount Summer Film Fest!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
More ring news
Chase and Scout rings can now be purchased in Dallas exclusively at Urban Flower Grange Hall.
How's that for fast - Everything has been happening fast, fast, fast this year. We're really excited by this. I have an appointment at another gallery in Tallahassee in a few weeks. I need to decide where in Houston I'd like to approach.... We've been refining the list of places I'd like to talk to in Austin about the rings as well. Our new website goes live in a few weeks!
The chairs are going to just one boutique hotel, unfortunately the same week we officially launched ours, a factory in Brooklyn began producing a simplified version. Ours are more for commercial use as the bases are removable (for stacking and storage of multiples) and ours are also adjustable and can be positioned into an upright sitting or recline position.
Since ours are a two piece sectional and have more design/production in the creation to make the additions/changes possible, the cost is also significantly higher than the original design.
A serious drag, but sometimes two groups come up with similar ideas at the same time.
The oil spill has not helped with smaller Florida hotel budgets for outdoor furnishings anyways, some of the mom and pops are just praying for a Hurricane and the resulting insurance money to stay afloat this year..
Fortunately we did sell the originals and we're not sitting under a ton of chairs =o)
This year I'm really into staying focused on the bright side. A really talented landscape designer is re-vamping our backyard for a more Texas drought friendly look. All of the cactus will finally have a place to go. The Ferox should be especially happy to get out of a pot and into free soil..
I managed to save two giant blue agaves from the shop and they have both rooted into the yard this spring, now we just need to replant the sago palm and we should be good.
Hopefully next time we're in NM we can pick up some more statuesque red rocks for the back yard.
Looks like F&D/F&D is a hit and we are so pleased to have them, they are such a nice couple and their daughter is just a doll. Good vibes all around!
How's that for fast - Everything has been happening fast, fast, fast this year. We're really excited by this. I have an appointment at another gallery in Tallahassee in a few weeks. I need to decide where in Houston I'd like to approach.... We've been refining the list of places I'd like to talk to in Austin about the rings as well. Our new website goes live in a few weeks!
The chairs are going to just one boutique hotel, unfortunately the same week we officially launched ours, a factory in Brooklyn began producing a simplified version. Ours are more for commercial use as the bases are removable (for stacking and storage of multiples) and ours are also adjustable and can be positioned into an upright sitting or recline position.
Since ours are a two piece sectional and have more design/production in the creation to make the additions/changes possible, the cost is also significantly higher than the original design.
A serious drag, but sometimes two groups come up with similar ideas at the same time.
The oil spill has not helped with smaller Florida hotel budgets for outdoor furnishings anyways, some of the mom and pops are just praying for a Hurricane and the resulting insurance money to stay afloat this year..
Fortunately we did sell the originals and we're not sitting under a ton of chairs =o)
This year I'm really into staying focused on the bright side. A really talented landscape designer is re-vamping our backyard for a more Texas drought friendly look. All of the cactus will finally have a place to go. The Ferox should be especially happy to get out of a pot and into free soil..
I managed to save two giant blue agaves from the shop and they have both rooted into the yard this spring, now we just need to replant the sago palm and we should be good.
Hopefully next time we're in NM we can pick up some more statuesque red rocks for the back yard.
Looks like F&D/F&D is a hit and we are so pleased to have them, they are such a nice couple and their daughter is just a doll. Good vibes all around!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Things are FLYING!
The rings have become white hot, within a week they've landed in three galleries (DC OKC and FL)
A friend is taking me to her friend in Big D who owns a gorgeous gallery and we'll be talking to them about retailing the rings through their space as well.. How perfect is that? I have not actively sought out shops in Austin but so far the people who have inquired have wanted consignment rather than wholesale purchase. Since I never liked the odds of consignment as a shop owner I really don't like it as a designer. So, the rings will remain wholesale only.
And while the iron is hot.... I actually AM getting the chance to show our chairs to a unique hotel group and they are being considered for two of their boutique hotels! Something in our Karma must be white hot somewhere.
Our shell bottles have been featured several times on Etsy in the past week and now I am on the verge of actually being completely sold out. I am tired but it looks like I'll be spending the next 48 - 72 hours in the studio working on both the bottles and the rings.
I'd rather be busy than idle so this is great!
Lastly, the restaurant on 53rd has finally opened and the food is a revelation! We don't do the downtown scene in Austin often but as far as I know, no one else is doing something this innovative in Austin.
Corn Raviolis that have the fresh crunchy sweetness of corn right off the stalk, swoon worthy homemade hummus with grilled baby octopus, steak with balsamic whip and grilled black mushrooms and the whole dinner was finished with this wild dessert that I can't remember other than grilled peaches with sweet basil sorbet.
Food coma had set in halfway through dinner and when we were finished with dinner and dessert there was just a rosy golden glow of well fed happiness blanketing everyone.
I don't know if you can get a vibrational high from eating well, but it certainly seemed possible after that meal..
May has been an exceptionally nice month. Knock wood, it continues.
A friend is taking me to her friend in Big D who owns a gorgeous gallery and we'll be talking to them about retailing the rings through their space as well.. How perfect is that? I have not actively sought out shops in Austin but so far the people who have inquired have wanted consignment rather than wholesale purchase. Since I never liked the odds of consignment as a shop owner I really don't like it as a designer. So, the rings will remain wholesale only.
And while the iron is hot.... I actually AM getting the chance to show our chairs to a unique hotel group and they are being considered for two of their boutique hotels! Something in our Karma must be white hot somewhere.
Our shell bottles have been featured several times on Etsy in the past week and now I am on the verge of actually being completely sold out. I am tired but it looks like I'll be spending the next 48 - 72 hours in the studio working on both the bottles and the rings.
I'd rather be busy than idle so this is great!
Lastly, the restaurant on 53rd has finally opened and the food is a revelation! We don't do the downtown scene in Austin often but as far as I know, no one else is doing something this innovative in Austin.
Corn Raviolis that have the fresh crunchy sweetness of corn right off the stalk, swoon worthy homemade hummus with grilled baby octopus, steak with balsamic whip and grilled black mushrooms and the whole dinner was finished with this wild dessert that I can't remember other than grilled peaches with sweet basil sorbet.
Food coma had set in halfway through dinner and when we were finished with dinner and dessert there was just a rosy golden glow of well fed happiness blanketing everyone.
I don't know if you can get a vibrational high from eating well, but it certainly seemed possible after that meal..
May has been an exceptionally nice month. Knock wood, it continues.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The Austin Modern chairs are being produced as we speak, our first one hits www.austinmodern.com today along with a few other FAB finds.
The chairs are so amazing. Dream sale number one: W Hotel wants them for 4 poolside locations.
And then JRad calls and says "These are fabby baby, let's work on getting one in every well decorated home.
Because that can happen....
June Architectural Digest comes out in a few weeks! Did I mention we have a piece appearing in June's AD? Ok yes, I am really excited about this more than any other magazine appearance/mention/feature before..
The chairs are so amazing. Dream sale number one: W Hotel wants them for 4 poolside locations.
And then JRad calls and says "These are fabby baby, let's work on getting one in every well decorated home.
Because that can happen....
June Architectural Digest comes out in a few weeks! Did I mention we have a piece appearing in June's AD? Ok yes, I am really excited about this more than any other magazine appearance/mention/feature before..
Friday, April 23, 2010
It's Friday, I have a ton of packages to mail out, a ton of items to photo for several sites, several items in the hopper for cleaning and repair. It's rainy which puts the hold on natural light photography, and repair.
I have a custom order for an entire 30' roll of hand painted malachite wall paper. I like the Fornasetti Malachite wallpaper, but it isn't very 'real' looking.
We've been asked to put our rings in a new shop on consignment, ummm maybe no. They don't have a locked display case or a consignment contract. I wanted to ask what she was smoking.
Our metal smith who is producing our new Austin Modern chairs is still working on the plan, industrial design is not easy. Every iteration costs time and revisions.
I need to get a lot of ducks in a row in about 2 weeks under the steam of just me. Ask me if my head is spinning. It really is.
Today's title is Chief Eel Wrangler!
I don't have the time to even think about Estates or Auctions this weekend let alone go...
3 weeks till AD is published!
A blast from the far far distant past, a good friend of mine sent me a photo of the two of us as teenagers, at 15 and 16, everyone is gorgeous!
I have to laugh at my 80s Euro-trend New Wave clothes and hair though.
Sorry I'm not posting it, trust me it's stupid.
I have a custom order for an entire 30' roll of hand painted malachite wall paper. I like the Fornasetti Malachite wallpaper, but it isn't very 'real' looking.
We've been asked to put our rings in a new shop on consignment, ummm maybe no. They don't have a locked display case or a consignment contract. I wanted to ask what she was smoking.
Our metal smith who is producing our new Austin Modern chairs is still working on the plan, industrial design is not easy. Every iteration costs time and revisions.
I need to get a lot of ducks in a row in about 2 weeks under the steam of just me. Ask me if my head is spinning. It really is.
Today's title is Chief Eel Wrangler!
I don't have the time to even think about Estates or Auctions this weekend let alone go...
3 weeks till AD is published!
A blast from the far far distant past, a good friend of mine sent me a photo of the two of us as teenagers, at 15 and 16, everyone is gorgeous!
I have to laugh at my 80s Euro-trend New Wave clothes and hair though.
Sorry I'm not posting it, trust me it's stupid.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Specimen X
Specimen rings are going to be my 'thing' this season. The DH sent me to several gold smithing classes as a gift and now I'm all about making the biggest and prettiest. These are not for the weak wristed and delicate desert flower. These are for ladies who rock. Sparkly knuckle dusters! They have terrific heft and could do a lot of damage if used in a backhand. 300 cts and some granite for good measure.
Since it's a half rainy half sunny sort of weekend I think I'll hunker down in the shop and get my bling on. I dig working with a torch it's fun and dangerous! Our Shell bottles have been selling really well and the Austin Modern chair prototype should be ready this next week. Woot!
Someone suggested that I take up welding in order to actually be the one who produces the chair. Mmmmm how about No.
I've found an excellent metal sculptor here in Austin who knows what he's doing. That's better than me taking 3 years to learn welding in order to produce a prototype.
Outside of some random element using our business name to promote their junk, merrily we roll along.
Someone suggested that I take up welding in order to actually be the one who produces the chair. Mmmmm how about No.
I've found an excellent metal sculptor here in Austin who knows what he's doing. That's better than me taking 3 years to learn welding in order to produce a prototype.
Outside of some random element using our business name to promote their junk, merrily we roll along.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Austin Modern is MY business
Some real estate guy is running around town telling people he owns Austin Modern! That's a surprise to me...
Cut it out, seriously, it's weak.
We might be changing the name for our second shop but we will be keeping Austin Modern open.
AustinModern and Austin Modern were chosen by me 8 years ago and registered by me as MY business name, I did all the promoting and advertising back when if you typed Austin Modern into any search engine, the only thing that came up was me.
I can't do anything about the tons of developers selling Modern homes in Austin and every new condo that has Modern styling. And I really wish I had thought about how real estate might change in the future. But I chose the name first, I own the web address, it's my registered business name, I'm still in business and that's the way it is.
Being part of the annoyance doesn't make you my friend.
Cut it out, seriously, it's weak.
We might be changing the name for our second shop but we will be keeping Austin Modern open.
AustinModern and Austin Modern were chosen by me 8 years ago and registered by me as MY business name, I did all the promoting and advertising back when if you typed Austin Modern into any search engine, the only thing that came up was me.
I can't do anything about the tons of developers selling Modern homes in Austin and every new condo that has Modern styling. And I really wish I had thought about how real estate might change in the future. But I chose the name first, I own the web address, it's my registered business name, I'm still in business and that's the way it is.
Being part of the annoyance doesn't make you my friend.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Rain - Water water everywhere
The hot water heater went out Friday right at 5pm. Hows that for dumb luck? Had it replaced this morning and we're happily cleaning all the things that were deferred over the weekend.
The snow, we think is gone for the year and so we've started assessing the damage to the cactus gardens. Went by my friend Joe's house, all the arms on his cactus just snapped off during the snow. His giant agave had a hard time as well.
No matter, the great thing with cactus is you can just plant it again and it will root.
Watching Grey Gardens on Netflix. It's reminding me of a lady I knew about 20 years ago in Palm Beach. When I was 20 I worked in a small grocery by the beach. There was a woman who would come in, she seemed quite lucid, but she also was a little off. She didn't drive, rarely had more than 5.00 with her but obviously came from a privileged background... she just wasn't your typical Palm Beach retiree. She dressed really simply at a time when everyone seemed to be wearing gaudy gold sandals and gold straw hats. She'd sit with me while I took a break and tell me stories about growing up in Conneticut, she said she knew my father. I had a hard time believing that. She seemed very lonely.
She told me a lawyer managed her trust and she was on a fixed income. Almost everyone I knew in Palm Beach had a trust or inheritance, so I didn't think much of it. I extended her credit and she always paid on time, so it was never a problem. I changed jobs and was working making pastries at a restaurant during the week and selling at antiques shows on the weekends, she tracked me down and would come in for lunch once a week. From our talks I gathered that her family wanted to put her in a group home. That year I received a Christmas card from her, sent to me c/o the restaurant, inside were 5 $100 dollar bills. I felt that I ought to return it but I never saw her again.
I wish I could remember that woman's name, she was truly a mystery.
So now that I'm watching Grey Gardens for the first time ever, I am baffled that anyone would name a business after this.. Makes me wonder if they were always a little nuts, or if it came on softly and got worse as time passed.
On a completely different note: Went to 24/7 Diner this weekend, everyone is going nuts for the place. I was exceedingly BAD and had a blue cheese and bacon burger with roast brocolini. I can see why they're so popular. We split a Banana Brown Sugar Milkshake with a shot of espresso for the ride home. Stellar!
Their decor was a bit wonky though. 4 really neat industrial hoppers turned into downlights, but the rest of the lighting fell a little flat. A cluster of home crafted plumbing pipe things painted gloss black with bulbs screwed in at the junctions. Oddly there were two very small scale scientific posters illustrating the solar rotation, I didn't get it but Jim pointed out the whole 24-7 concept and then it sort of made sense. Sort of.
If I owned a restaurant and were going for an industrial look, I'd have chosen vintage butcher charts of chickens, pigs and cows and farming growth charts for local vegetables. But it's always easy to point fingers.
The snow, we think is gone for the year and so we've started assessing the damage to the cactus gardens. Went by my friend Joe's house, all the arms on his cactus just snapped off during the snow. His giant agave had a hard time as well.
No matter, the great thing with cactus is you can just plant it again and it will root.
Watching Grey Gardens on Netflix. It's reminding me of a lady I knew about 20 years ago in Palm Beach. When I was 20 I worked in a small grocery by the beach. There was a woman who would come in, she seemed quite lucid, but she also was a little off. She didn't drive, rarely had more than 5.00 with her but obviously came from a privileged background... she just wasn't your typical Palm Beach retiree. She dressed really simply at a time when everyone seemed to be wearing gaudy gold sandals and gold straw hats. She'd sit with me while I took a break and tell me stories about growing up in Conneticut, she said she knew my father. I had a hard time believing that. She seemed very lonely.
She told me a lawyer managed her trust and she was on a fixed income. Almost everyone I knew in Palm Beach had a trust or inheritance, so I didn't think much of it. I extended her credit and she always paid on time, so it was never a problem. I changed jobs and was working making pastries at a restaurant during the week and selling at antiques shows on the weekends, she tracked me down and would come in for lunch once a week. From our talks I gathered that her family wanted to put her in a group home. That year I received a Christmas card from her, sent to me c/o the restaurant, inside were 5 $100 dollar bills. I felt that I ought to return it but I never saw her again.
I wish I could remember that woman's name, she was truly a mystery.
So now that I'm watching Grey Gardens for the first time ever, I am baffled that anyone would name a business after this.. Makes me wonder if they were always a little nuts, or if it came on softly and got worse as time passed.
On a completely different note: Went to 24/7 Diner this weekend, everyone is going nuts for the place. I was exceedingly BAD and had a blue cheese and bacon burger with roast brocolini. I can see why they're so popular. We split a Banana Brown Sugar Milkshake with a shot of espresso for the ride home. Stellar!
Their decor was a bit wonky though. 4 really neat industrial hoppers turned into downlights, but the rest of the lighting fell a little flat. A cluster of home crafted plumbing pipe things painted gloss black with bulbs screwed in at the junctions. Oddly there were two very small scale scientific posters illustrating the solar rotation, I didn't get it but Jim pointed out the whole 24-7 concept and then it sort of made sense. Sort of.
If I owned a restaurant and were going for an industrial look, I'd have chosen vintage butcher charts of chickens, pigs and cows and farming growth charts for local vegetables. But it's always easy to point fingers.
Monday, February 22, 2010
SXSW is coming! Do you have your wristband?
I love SXSW for a variety of reasons and it's almost here again!
Number one reason we love SXSW: It gives friends who no longer, or never did live here, a reason to head to Austin. Either to play a show or to cover a story. Owning Austin Modern has given us tremendous opportunities to meet a lot of fun and unique people, many work within the music and film industry so SXSW is 'old home week' for us.
If you are coming to Austin for SXSW, here are a few ideas to stick in your 'inside info' book.
The locals know that SoCo is a flippin MADHOUSE. If you are going to see a specific band and they are playing anywhere on South Congress, plan on delays and traffic and no parking. South 1st is a great place to wander around for in-store free events.
Austin is not a bus friendly town, however if you are staying near downtown you should be able to take the Number 1 bus to every where you need to go. The Number 1 runs from way South Congress to way North Lamar, points in between being 6th street, the Warehouse Dist. and Guadalupe.
RECORDS: Vinyl Shopping in Austin: End of An Ear on South 1st, Number One Stop (New, Used, Indie and Rare). Waterloo for local pressings, and Antones for those of you with a yen for Mingus, Coltrane or Speedy West (Vintage Western Swing, Blues, Jazz and Texas-centric Vinyl)
Sadly, Sound on Sound has closed in the last year.
If you like texas-psycho-billy, they're a bit long in the tooth, but I still dig the Flame Trick Subs. They put on a good show!
Think vintage Cramps meets 80s Blasters, throw in a few pin up girls and send them out to get drunk with Johnny Cash. Fun stuff.
Best Burger in Austin - Casino el Camino on 6th street (shoot for 6pm or shortly after opening) they grill guys are surly and sometimes just plain rude, but it's sooooo worth it.
BBQ- East 12th 2000 East 12th Street to be exact. SAMS BBQ. about an 8.00 cab ride from the 6th street madness. These are good people making insane bbq. Get the Brisket. The tiny white house might be packed to the rafters with a line out the door, just wait your turn and be nice. This is no place to pull that rock god bullsh*t. No one cares who you are. And sometimes, that's a nice relief, right?
Looks like any other well loved 1930s house in an older part of Austin, but this place is LEGENDARY. It's not some fancy place that every magazine in America has dubbed Austin's Best BBQ or TEXAS BEST BBQ. But this really is it. The real cool crowd goes to this place. Go here during SXSW and find yourself sitting next to rock legends hanging on the down low, taking a break from all the glitz and rah rah SXSW for some true texas bbq. Grab a seat on the patio at one of the "general seating" picnic tables and chat with your fellow man. Sit a spell, have a beer and know deep in your heart "This is the best BBQ in Texas"
Number one reason we love SXSW: It gives friends who no longer, or never did live here, a reason to head to Austin. Either to play a show or to cover a story. Owning Austin Modern has given us tremendous opportunities to meet a lot of fun and unique people, many work within the music and film industry so SXSW is 'old home week' for us.
If you are coming to Austin for SXSW, here are a few ideas to stick in your 'inside info' book.
The locals know that SoCo is a flippin MADHOUSE. If you are going to see a specific band and they are playing anywhere on South Congress, plan on delays and traffic and no parking. South 1st is a great place to wander around for in-store free events.
Austin is not a bus friendly town, however if you are staying near downtown you should be able to take the Number 1 bus to every where you need to go. The Number 1 runs from way South Congress to way North Lamar, points in between being 6th street, the Warehouse Dist. and Guadalupe.
RECORDS: Vinyl Shopping in Austin: End of An Ear on South 1st, Number One Stop (New, Used, Indie and Rare). Waterloo for local pressings, and Antones for those of you with a yen for Mingus, Coltrane or Speedy West (Vintage Western Swing, Blues, Jazz and Texas-centric Vinyl)
Sadly, Sound on Sound has closed in the last year.
If you like texas-psycho-billy, they're a bit long in the tooth, but I still dig the Flame Trick Subs. They put on a good show!
Think vintage Cramps meets 80s Blasters, throw in a few pin up girls and send them out to get drunk with Johnny Cash. Fun stuff.
Best Burger in Austin - Casino el Camino on 6th street (shoot for 6pm or shortly after opening) they grill guys are surly and sometimes just plain rude, but it's sooooo worth it.
BBQ- East 12th 2000 East 12th Street to be exact. SAMS BBQ. about an 8.00 cab ride from the 6th street madness. These are good people making insane bbq. Get the Brisket. The tiny white house might be packed to the rafters with a line out the door, just wait your turn and be nice. This is no place to pull that rock god bullsh*t. No one cares who you are. And sometimes, that's a nice relief, right?
Looks like any other well loved 1930s house in an older part of Austin, but this place is LEGENDARY. It's not some fancy place that every magazine in America has dubbed Austin's Best BBQ or TEXAS BEST BBQ. But this really is it. The real cool crowd goes to this place. Go here during SXSW and find yourself sitting next to rock legends hanging on the down low, taking a break from all the glitz and rah rah SXSW for some true texas bbq. Grab a seat on the patio at one of the "general seating" picnic tables and chat with your fellow man. Sit a spell, have a beer and know deep in your heart "This is the best BBQ in Texas"
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Vintage Lucite Care and Repair Pt 2
Vintage Lucite Care and Repair Part 2
We've done this several times, I strongly recommend that if you'd like to try this yourself, use a test piece first! I want to share this info but please take into consideration this requires a light touch and some finesse. This is an overview of the process of Scratch Removal. If you have a nice piece of Hollywood Regency Lucite furniture, like a chair or table or desk, consider professional restoration. Look in your Yellow Pages for plastics companies in your area.
***
Expect costs to start at around 70.00 an hour for scratch removal and flame polishing. This is part of the reason that real vintage lucite furniture is not inexpensive. The finishing process is a hands on experience!
Flame polishing is something I can't do. In a nutshell, flame polishing is taking a blowtorch to a piece of Lucite or Acrylic and passing the torch back and forth over an area. Done properly, it melts the surface and creates a glassy sheen. Done improperly, it will burn your Lucite piece and create a fine foam of bubbles. The bubbles will be on the surface and within your piece.
DO NOT attempt to flame polish on anything but a test piece.
----------------
Again, this is just an overview, please consider having a professional repair your fine piece of Hollywood Regency Lucite.
----------------
Ok. So on to your scratches. I have taped off an area of scratches. These are deep enough that they require a series of steps instead of just the compound paste.
So after taping off your area, you'll start with sandpaper in a 400 grit. Wet your sandpaper and sand in the opposite direction of the scratches. The scratches are vertical, so you'll sand in a horizontal motion. This will sand out the scratches. You don't need to really GRIND at the scratches, they'll come out without too much pressure.
Next, use a piece of 600 grit and sand in a vertical direction. 800 grit horizontal. End with 1200 grit in a vertical direction. Your piece will look something like this.
I removed a portion of the tape to illustrate that it is still fairly fuzzy, but the scratches are gone.
Next you'll need your polishing compound. I use Novus Level 2 and 3
Novus is a liquid polishing compound, available at most plastics shops and some intensive hardware stores. Not likely to be found at Big Box hardware stores. Novus is a specialty product.
In the Image below, the last of the scratch is a dot towards the bottom of the image below the word Koefeds and over the N in chandelier.
Grab that pink and blue can of cleaner from yesterday and clean the whole piece again to get the last of the polishing compound off.
You are a few steps closer to having a clearer cleaner piece of Hollywood Glam furniture!
More images and progress pics tomorrow!
And in case you are wondering about the make up of Lucite, Acrylic, Lexan and Plastics I have this info from Wikipedia
We've done this several times, I strongly recommend that if you'd like to try this yourself, use a test piece first! I want to share this info but please take into consideration this requires a light touch and some finesse. This is an overview of the process of Scratch Removal. If you have a nice piece of Hollywood Regency Lucite furniture, like a chair or table or desk, consider professional restoration. Look in your Yellow Pages for plastics companies in your area.
***
Expect costs to start at around 70.00 an hour for scratch removal and flame polishing. This is part of the reason that real vintage lucite furniture is not inexpensive. The finishing process is a hands on experience!
Flame polishing is something I can't do. In a nutshell, flame polishing is taking a blowtorch to a piece of Lucite or Acrylic and passing the torch back and forth over an area. Done properly, it melts the surface and creates a glassy sheen. Done improperly, it will burn your Lucite piece and create a fine foam of bubbles. The bubbles will be on the surface and within your piece.
DO NOT attempt to flame polish on anything but a test piece.
----------------
Again, this is just an overview, please consider having a professional repair your fine piece of Hollywood Regency Lucite.
----------------
Ok. So on to your scratches. I have taped off an area of scratches. These are deep enough that they require a series of steps instead of just the compound paste.
So after taping off your area, you'll start with sandpaper in a 400 grit. Wet your sandpaper and sand in the opposite direction of the scratches. The scratches are vertical, so you'll sand in a horizontal motion. This will sand out the scratches. You don't need to really GRIND at the scratches, they'll come out without too much pressure.
Next, use a piece of 600 grit and sand in a vertical direction. 800 grit horizontal. End with 1200 grit in a vertical direction. Your piece will look something like this.
I removed a portion of the tape to illustrate that it is still fairly fuzzy, but the scratches are gone.
Next you'll need your polishing compound. I use Novus Level 2 and 3
Novus is a liquid polishing compound, available at most plastics shops and some intensive hardware stores. Not likely to be found at Big Box hardware stores. Novus is a specialty product.
In the Image below, the last of the scratch is a dot towards the bottom of the image below the word Koefeds and over the N in chandelier.
Grab that pink and blue can of cleaner from yesterday and clean the whole piece again to get the last of the polishing compound off.
You are a few steps closer to having a clearer cleaner piece of Hollywood Glam furniture!
More images and progress pics tomorrow!
And in case you are wondering about the make up of Lucite, Acrylic, Lexan and Plastics I have this info from Wikipedia
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a transparent thermoplastic.
Chemically, it is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate. It is sold under many trade names, including Policril, Plexiglas, Gavrieli, Vitroflex, Limacryl, R-Cast, Per-Clax, Perspex, Plazcryl, Acrylex, Acrylite, Acrylplast, Altuglas, Polycast, Oroglass, Optix and Lucite and is commonly called acrylic glass, simply acrylic, perspex or plexiglas. Acrylic, or acrylic fiber, can also refer to polymers or copolymers containing polyacrylonitrile. The material was developed in 1928 in various laboratories and was brought to market in 1933 by Rohm and Haas Company.
Monday, February 15, 2010
When good lucite goes bad
We were renting some pieces for the set for the pilot for the TV show SwingTown and for the 5th time I was going over the care of the lucite and acrylic pieces to the prop master. I was being a little over protective but the last load of stuff I had seen at a prop sale contained several pieces of hazed lucite. It may have come from another shop already messed up or it may have happened during the shoot. I wasn't to jazzed to find out using my store stock as the confirmation.
I won't buy hazed lucite, in my opinion it's gone bad. Lucite in a purplish smoke color has hazed. I'm sure there is a technical name for the hazing but basically window cleaner or anything else with high ammonia content will haze Lucite. Real lucite reacts poorly with Window cleaner, strangely plastic isn't bothered by it. Hazing is not instantaneous, but with repeated applications and high heat like sitting near a window or under studio lights, the reaction can be fairly rapid.
Pure heat can cause internal crackling. Neither can be cured. Hazing cannot be polished out and crackling cannot be filled. Once I was told by a less than stellar dealer that hazing can be removed. It can't. It's all about proper care and feeding from the start.
If you don't like the purplish color, don't buy it thinking you can polish it out. You can't.
I've wanted to post a piece on vintage lucite for a while but the last large pieces we had, a giant Hollywood Regency desk and a gorgeous heavy Italian Chrome and Lucite chair, didn't have any real issues to post about. So today I was excited to find a nice Charles Hollis Jones vanity bench in need of full, but not intensive, restoration.
How dirty can it get?
That's just not right. This is almost 80% lack of cleaning. And 20% poor care and consideration.
The rotating bearings on the underside of this piece were made in Italy, a high quality piece that got lost along the way. It's ok, she'll be a glamor girl again shortly.
We recommend this stuff for cleaning real Lucite, Lexan and Polycarbonate
You can get it in the flooring section of home hardware stores. Just remember - Pink & Blue Can. This stuff is excellent, it foams a bit and loosens all sorts of dirt and grime. You might not know that an item is actually yellowed from nicotine until you go over it with this a few times.
So once your piece is cleaned up, it's time to assess the true damage. Chips, flakes, surface scratches, gouges, rust to trim pieces, upholstery.
Chips and flakes are permanent so it depends where they are. On the underside, that's one thing. Font and center? that's another.
For a difficult to find piece like a CHJ rotating vanity bench, we're a little more forgiving than if it was just some bland bent piece of clear plastic.
Also bear in mind, upholstery is almost a non issue. If the piece is great, you'll want to reupholster it to match your decor. If the upholstery is a mess and the piece is of marginal quality to begin with, you don't want it anyways.
How do you tell the difference between lucite and clear plastic? The first clue is weight. If you pick something up and it weighs WAY more than you expected, it's most likely Lucite, Lexan or Polycarbonate. Newer plastic weighs nothing compared to the heft of a solid piece of lucite furniture. This small bench weighs almost 40lbs, the same bench in acrylic would be under 20 lbs. It's a real difference you can feel.
Plastic LOOKS like plastic. Lucite looks like dense clear resin, Plastic looks like clear plastic trying to look like glass.
Handle enough pieces of both and you'll get a feel for it. If you haven't handled a lot of pieces, you'll think I'm nuts for professing to spot a difference. That's ok, it's why I do what I do.
This difference in density is part of the reason vintage Lucite can go toe to toe with brand new acrylic and kick it's butt every time. Real lucite is tough, plastic is brittle inexpensive stuff and frankly imho not suited to furniture applications.
So this is the same piece cleaned:
Better already but we still have to address the surface scratches near the base, the bent chrome wheel caps, the seat bearings AND the upholstery.
Which I'll do tomorrow. Removing scratches is a long elbow grease intensive process, but worth the results.
The bench will need re-upholstery, a small and easy job. I have three choices at hand Grey Suede, White Patent (so 90s!) or White Tibetan Lamb (So 2009! lol) we might just go with pure and simple muslin since whom ever buys it will most likely have a fabric preference different from mine.
Next post will be disassembly, cleaning, polishing out surface scratches, and upholstery.
I won't buy hazed lucite, in my opinion it's gone bad. Lucite in a purplish smoke color has hazed. I'm sure there is a technical name for the hazing but basically window cleaner or anything else with high ammonia content will haze Lucite. Real lucite reacts poorly with Window cleaner, strangely plastic isn't bothered by it. Hazing is not instantaneous, but with repeated applications and high heat like sitting near a window or under studio lights, the reaction can be fairly rapid.
Pure heat can cause internal crackling. Neither can be cured. Hazing cannot be polished out and crackling cannot be filled. Once I was told by a less than stellar dealer that hazing can be removed. It can't. It's all about proper care and feeding from the start.
If you don't like the purplish color, don't buy it thinking you can polish it out. You can't.
I've wanted to post a piece on vintage lucite for a while but the last large pieces we had, a giant Hollywood Regency desk and a gorgeous heavy Italian Chrome and Lucite chair, didn't have any real issues to post about. So today I was excited to find a nice Charles Hollis Jones vanity bench in need of full, but not intensive, restoration.
How dirty can it get?
That's just not right. This is almost 80% lack of cleaning. And 20% poor care and consideration.
The rotating bearings on the underside of this piece were made in Italy, a high quality piece that got lost along the way. It's ok, she'll be a glamor girl again shortly.
We recommend this stuff for cleaning real Lucite, Lexan and Polycarbonate
You can get it in the flooring section of home hardware stores. Just remember - Pink & Blue Can. This stuff is excellent, it foams a bit and loosens all sorts of dirt and grime. You might not know that an item is actually yellowed from nicotine until you go over it with this a few times.
So once your piece is cleaned up, it's time to assess the true damage. Chips, flakes, surface scratches, gouges, rust to trim pieces, upholstery.
Chips and flakes are permanent so it depends where they are. On the underside, that's one thing. Font and center? that's another.
For a difficult to find piece like a CHJ rotating vanity bench, we're a little more forgiving than if it was just some bland bent piece of clear plastic.
Also bear in mind, upholstery is almost a non issue. If the piece is great, you'll want to reupholster it to match your decor. If the upholstery is a mess and the piece is of marginal quality to begin with, you don't want it anyways.
How do you tell the difference between lucite and clear plastic? The first clue is weight. If you pick something up and it weighs WAY more than you expected, it's most likely Lucite, Lexan or Polycarbonate. Newer plastic weighs nothing compared to the heft of a solid piece of lucite furniture. This small bench weighs almost 40lbs, the same bench in acrylic would be under 20 lbs. It's a real difference you can feel.
Plastic LOOKS like plastic. Lucite looks like dense clear resin, Plastic looks like clear plastic trying to look like glass.
Handle enough pieces of both and you'll get a feel for it. If you haven't handled a lot of pieces, you'll think I'm nuts for professing to spot a difference. That's ok, it's why I do what I do.
This difference in density is part of the reason vintage Lucite can go toe to toe with brand new acrylic and kick it's butt every time. Real lucite is tough, plastic is brittle inexpensive stuff and frankly imho not suited to furniture applications.
So this is the same piece cleaned:
Better already but we still have to address the surface scratches near the base, the bent chrome wheel caps, the seat bearings AND the upholstery.
Which I'll do tomorrow. Removing scratches is a long elbow grease intensive process, but worth the results.
The bench will need re-upholstery, a small and easy job. I have three choices at hand Grey Suede, White Patent (so 90s!) or White Tibetan Lamb (So 2009! lol) we might just go with pure and simple muslin since whom ever buys it will most likely have a fabric preference different from mine.
Next post will be disassembly, cleaning, polishing out surface scratches, and upholstery.
Lighting
Always create with the assistance of tylenol 3. It makes everything a little more interesting!
This weekend, after spending all week asleep, I was finally able to give Jim a hand with his two latest creations.
Lunar Landing - 8 feet of Aluminum goodness. Vintage self leveling industrial tripod paired with a vintage 24" flood light dish.
No joke in monumental lighting! Lighting is one of our favorite categories but some things were just never produced. Things like this.
It's what should have been used to light the photos for the lunar landings, it's very space age without trying too hard to be 'atomic age'.
This light is brilliant, we're undecided if we'll sell this one. Several of our other 'created lights' have been picked up by the interior design crowd, but this "Lunar Landing" is one of a kind.
The heater lamps are doing very well and someone just bought 10 of our glove mold lamps for a steakhouse in Chicago. I love sending pieces out and having them go to public spaces.
Jim finished the Street/Floor lamp as well. Its a very loose interpretation of the Marc Newson Super Guppy. I like this one since it's just under 5 feet tall and has an on off foot switch in the base.
It's not quite steampunk, not quite pop art, solid aluminum and has been retrofitted to take standard light bulbs. Makes a great reading light! This one will probably go online to BondandBowery, though I am enjoying its solid presence around the house. It's like a quiet sentry, ever alert and always available to light the way.
We've been thinking about copyrights a lot lately. I've been following the HidenSeek/Hidden Eloise - Paperchase mess with great interest. Seems like a clear case of copying, the artist admitted to tracing Eloise's artwork, it's fairly cut and dried. However Paperchase is still failing to step up and offer H.E. royalties for images sold. Paperchase is hiding behind the designer who copied the item saying we bought it from so and so, go after her. That's wrong. Doing something unwittingly doesn't make it ok.
Early in our career someone brought us some 1940s lawn chairs, we bought them, not knowing they were stolen. The owner contacted us and long story short, she got her chairs back and I was out the money I had paid for them. I was happy she got her chairs back and I never bought from anyone after that without getting a long list of info from a seller, but I never once dreamed of holding the original owner of the chairs responsible for my mistake.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but it's still annoying to be copied.
We've seen portions of our entire website lifted, copied and pasted into someone else's website code, we've seen designs we've put together pop up here and there and it's always somewhat amusing, somewhat annoying. We've tried to find the amusing side but sometimes it just annoys me. Go get your own copy, think up your own taglines and designs.
Once we heard another shop in (OUR OWN TOWN!) using our tagline "Eclectic furnishings with a little bit of soul" in their TV commercial. They're out of business now, but it's blatant copying like that, that is less amusing and more annoying. Coming up with a decent tagline is tough, people spend $ and time coming up with those, don't swipe them! It just makes you look stupid anyways.
We're about to put a chair into production but have decided that trends being what they are and copying being king, we've decided to have the chair design copyrighted before production and our new website (still in creation) heavily copyrighted as well.
After hearing some nightmare stories from other designers about selling their custom item to Company X and seeing the Company X version released 6 months later... It's an extra annoying step that you either take or you don't. I didn't go after copycats for 7 years and have now decided that it's time to rectify the problem.
Have to say: Having your own creation ripped off is slightly different than selling a vintage item and seeing it reissued as someone else's design. That doesn't bug me so much. Sometimes when that happens it's kind of cool to know you helped, in a small way, rescue and resurrect a neat design.
There is a porcelain designer I know who makes unique porcelain items, she sold a set of 6 to someone at "major home design company", 6 months later the items were on all the shelves of all the stores of this company. Two changes, now the item was made of ceramic and with a spelling change in an embossed word. Perfectly legal. Perfectly shitty, but legal.
Of course she was devastated because it had been copied perfectly, her item had been used as a mold for the copy.
Since she's a small artist, she, like Hidden Eloise, couldn't afford a lawyer to go after Giant Corp.
Giant Corp. like Paperchase gave her the stock "unfortunate similarity" letter.
I don't understand how that can be karmically sound, wouldn't it be better to just pay the original artist for the copyright to the design and avoid a potential public kerfuffle? It's a win win. Beats the heck out of #Paperchase on twitter.
Since our lights are created and assembled from vintage pieces, it's possible that the same lights could be created by someone else. Working with vintage pieces makes it almost a given that your work is going to have a similarity to someone else's assemblage piece.
An item that we have newly custom designed and put into production? Yes, I'd be annoyed to see a copy somewhere.
This weekend, after spending all week asleep, I was finally able to give Jim a hand with his two latest creations.
Lunar Landing - 8 feet of Aluminum goodness. Vintage self leveling industrial tripod paired with a vintage 24" flood light dish.
No joke in monumental lighting! Lighting is one of our favorite categories but some things were just never produced. Things like this.
It's what should have been used to light the photos for the lunar landings, it's very space age without trying too hard to be 'atomic age'.
This light is brilliant, we're undecided if we'll sell this one. Several of our other 'created lights' have been picked up by the interior design crowd, but this "Lunar Landing" is one of a kind.
The heater lamps are doing very well and someone just bought 10 of our glove mold lamps for a steakhouse in Chicago. I love sending pieces out and having them go to public spaces.
Jim finished the Street/Floor lamp as well. Its a very loose interpretation of the Marc Newson Super Guppy. I like this one since it's just under 5 feet tall and has an on off foot switch in the base.
It's not quite steampunk, not quite pop art, solid aluminum and has been retrofitted to take standard light bulbs. Makes a great reading light! This one will probably go online to BondandBowery, though I am enjoying its solid presence around the house. It's like a quiet sentry, ever alert and always available to light the way.
We've been thinking about copyrights a lot lately. I've been following the HidenSeek/Hidden Eloise - Paperchase mess with great interest. Seems like a clear case of copying, the artist admitted to tracing Eloise's artwork, it's fairly cut and dried. However Paperchase is still failing to step up and offer H.E. royalties for images sold. Paperchase is hiding behind the designer who copied the item saying we bought it from so and so, go after her. That's wrong. Doing something unwittingly doesn't make it ok.
Early in our career someone brought us some 1940s lawn chairs, we bought them, not knowing they were stolen. The owner contacted us and long story short, she got her chairs back and I was out the money I had paid for them. I was happy she got her chairs back and I never bought from anyone after that without getting a long list of info from a seller, but I never once dreamed of holding the original owner of the chairs responsible for my mistake.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but it's still annoying to be copied.
We've seen portions of our entire website lifted, copied and pasted into someone else's website code, we've seen designs we've put together pop up here and there and it's always somewhat amusing, somewhat annoying. We've tried to find the amusing side but sometimes it just annoys me. Go get your own copy, think up your own taglines and designs.
Once we heard another shop in (OUR OWN TOWN!) using our tagline "Eclectic furnishings with a little bit of soul" in their TV commercial. They're out of business now, but it's blatant copying like that, that is less amusing and more annoying. Coming up with a decent tagline is tough, people spend $ and time coming up with those, don't swipe them! It just makes you look stupid anyways.
We're about to put a chair into production but have decided that trends being what they are and copying being king, we've decided to have the chair design copyrighted before production and our new website (still in creation) heavily copyrighted as well.
After hearing some nightmare stories from other designers about selling their custom item to Company X and seeing the Company X version released 6 months later... It's an extra annoying step that you either take or you don't. I didn't go after copycats for 7 years and have now decided that it's time to rectify the problem.
Have to say: Having your own creation ripped off is slightly different than selling a vintage item and seeing it reissued as someone else's design. That doesn't bug me so much. Sometimes when that happens it's kind of cool to know you helped, in a small way, rescue and resurrect a neat design.
There is a porcelain designer I know who makes unique porcelain items, she sold a set of 6 to someone at "major home design company", 6 months later the items were on all the shelves of all the stores of this company. Two changes, now the item was made of ceramic and with a spelling change in an embossed word. Perfectly legal. Perfectly shitty, but legal.
Of course she was devastated because it had been copied perfectly, her item had been used as a mold for the copy.
Since she's a small artist, she, like Hidden Eloise, couldn't afford a lawyer to go after Giant Corp.
Giant Corp. like Paperchase gave her the stock "unfortunate similarity" letter.
I don't understand how that can be karmically sound, wouldn't it be better to just pay the original artist for the copyright to the design and avoid a potential public kerfuffle? It's a win win. Beats the heck out of #Paperchase on twitter.
Since our lights are created and assembled from vintage pieces, it's possible that the same lights could be created by someone else. Working with vintage pieces makes it almost a given that your work is going to have a similarity to someone else's assemblage piece.
An item that we have newly custom designed and put into production? Yes, I'd be annoyed to see a copy somewhere.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Fresh Kills Daily
Whoo! I love a good find.
This week we've been running back and forth to the hospital getting some tiny skin cancer dots taken care of and with the new puppy-child who can't be left alone for very long, I haven't had much time to scout out the good finds.
This week we lucked out twice!
The first lucky find was a stash of early 50s Fornasetti Musica plates. Apparently they've been waved in my face for a month, but I only "saw" them yesterday. That happens sometimes.
I like the variations on a theme porcelain from Fornasetti's studio, but the earlier pieces of Fornasetti's hand colored lithography seems more artistic to me. If you ever need a bit of info on Fornasetti Studios, I recommend the book "Fornasetti - Designer of Dreams".
So those will be going to our Bond & Bowery site this week along with some gorgeous vintage industrial lighting.
Then today I found my other great find of the week. We were joking this morning that since the surgeries are right in the middle of my face, a tiny spot = a GIANT bandage, I won't be hunting and searching much this week. So after leaving the hospital before the lydocain wore off and in the middle of freezing rain, we ran by a few of my favorite spots.. that's dedication for ya!
At our very first stop we found my favorite find of the week - something that will keep me from being bummed about being stuck at home this week. A REAL KILL.
Fresh Kills it the excellent tag line for a funky Mid Century Modern shop in NYC called White Trash NYC. Fresh Kills is just an excellent tag line all around. Sourcing vintage is a bit like hunting. A fresh find is a thrill..
This fab 1950s in store display is Tee-rific! I love it! "Real-Kill is Stainless". And Guaranteed! Word.
Fab industrial rolling display cart is going to be one terrific bookshelf or storage unit in someone's fantastic vintage industrial live/work space. For the truly unique and shameless, this would make an eclectic bar cart putting most vintage airline beverage carts to SHAME.
Love the blue and orange color scheme and the hand lettering is sharp.
Real Kill is Real Cool!
Real-Kill will be cleaned and restored but not refinished. I like my vintage industrial authentic, original and with a bit of rust.
In other news, Jim created the most unusual light fixture the other day using a large freeway street light and a spun aluminum base.
Somewhat, and only very slightly in the realm of ideas, similar to the Marc Newson Super Guppy. But this fixture looks more like a streamlined pod on a spun aluminum base. This one is just under 5 feet and stands straight up. The proportions are "right" and it looks a bit like a mechanical shark balancing on it's tail. Yes, I love it.
We did an interview the other day for an online design blog and one of the questions was, 'where do you see design heading?' I'm not a visionary, and while I love what I love, I'm not about to dictate style. That said, here's what I like: I like pairings and I like combinations that are not normal. Currently we are really enjoying pairing Hollywood Regency WITH Industrial, done right, it's fantastic. Done wrong and it's the visual equivalent of using Alum instead of Sugar in your cookie dough.
I do still like some Mid Century modern, the very best pieces and examples will always be worth having. But I think that a lot of the middle of the road MCM is just not that interesting anymore.
Once it gets knocked off 50 ways from Sunday, none of it looks good. Even the original loses some of it's shine.
Think of the classic Chanel suit or an LV Grande Noe, both have been copied from high to low, now even the originals are somewhat cliche and suspect. That's how a feel about a lot of mid range original MCM.
The pieces that can't be copied or watered down though mass production, that's where my money is. Paul Evans, Wendel Castle, that's classic MCM that can't be inexpensively faked.
For those of us that are not in the habit of dropping 80K on a credenza, I'm thinking a return to Victoriana, but through a Steampunk lens. Industrial Age Factory broadsides 80s Cyberpunk and rolls into a Victorian ER. Bespoke antiquity.
That's the vicodan talking.
This week we've been running back and forth to the hospital getting some tiny skin cancer dots taken care of and with the new puppy-child who can't be left alone for very long, I haven't had much time to scout out the good finds.
This week we lucked out twice!
The first lucky find was a stash of early 50s Fornasetti Musica plates. Apparently they've been waved in my face for a month, but I only "saw" them yesterday. That happens sometimes.
I like the variations on a theme porcelain from Fornasetti's studio, but the earlier pieces of Fornasetti's hand colored lithography seems more artistic to me. If you ever need a bit of info on Fornasetti Studios, I recommend the book "Fornasetti - Designer of Dreams".
So those will be going to our Bond & Bowery site this week along with some gorgeous vintage industrial lighting.
Then today I found my other great find of the week. We were joking this morning that since the surgeries are right in the middle of my face, a tiny spot = a GIANT bandage, I won't be hunting and searching much this week. So after leaving the hospital before the lydocain wore off and in the middle of freezing rain, we ran by a few of my favorite spots.. that's dedication for ya!
At our very first stop we found my favorite find of the week - something that will keep me from being bummed about being stuck at home this week. A REAL KILL.
Fresh Kills it the excellent tag line for a funky Mid Century Modern shop in NYC called White Trash NYC. Fresh Kills is just an excellent tag line all around. Sourcing vintage is a bit like hunting. A fresh find is a thrill..
This fab 1950s in store display is Tee-rific! I love it! "Real-Kill is Stainless". And Guaranteed! Word.
Fab industrial rolling display cart is going to be one terrific bookshelf or storage unit in someone's fantastic vintage industrial live/work space. For the truly unique and shameless, this would make an eclectic bar cart putting most vintage airline beverage carts to SHAME.
Love the blue and orange color scheme and the hand lettering is sharp.
Real Kill is Real Cool!
Real-Kill will be cleaned and restored but not refinished. I like my vintage industrial authentic, original and with a bit of rust.
In other news, Jim created the most unusual light fixture the other day using a large freeway street light and a spun aluminum base.
Somewhat, and only very slightly in the realm of ideas, similar to the Marc Newson Super Guppy. But this fixture looks more like a streamlined pod on a spun aluminum base. This one is just under 5 feet and stands straight up. The proportions are "right" and it looks a bit like a mechanical shark balancing on it's tail. Yes, I love it.
We did an interview the other day for an online design blog and one of the questions was, 'where do you see design heading?' I'm not a visionary, and while I love what I love, I'm not about to dictate style. That said, here's what I like: I like pairings and I like combinations that are not normal. Currently we are really enjoying pairing Hollywood Regency WITH Industrial, done right, it's fantastic. Done wrong and it's the visual equivalent of using Alum instead of Sugar in your cookie dough.
I do still like some Mid Century modern, the very best pieces and examples will always be worth having. But I think that a lot of the middle of the road MCM is just not that interesting anymore.
Once it gets knocked off 50 ways from Sunday, none of it looks good. Even the original loses some of it's shine.
Think of the classic Chanel suit or an LV Grande Noe, both have been copied from high to low, now even the originals are somewhat cliche and suspect. That's how a feel about a lot of mid range original MCM.
The pieces that can't be copied or watered down though mass production, that's where my money is. Paul Evans, Wendel Castle, that's classic MCM that can't be inexpensively faked.
For those of us that are not in the habit of dropping 80K on a credenza, I'm thinking a return to Victoriana, but through a Steampunk lens. Industrial Age Factory broadsides 80s Cyberpunk and rolls into a Victorian ER. Bespoke antiquity.
That's the vicodan talking.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Gah! Now what?
So Architectural Digest has contacted us. WHOO! We're in the middle of creating a new business name, a new site and a new 'brand'. But we've been picked for AD by a designer we've worked with in the past and the designer obviously remembers the shop name.
Soooo. I'm tired of the shop name because it's been co-opted by everyone and their granny, but.. I have had this name for 7 years. 7 years is a long time to market a name and get it into people's heads.
I hate to walk away from that. Also, we just skipped the local vintage guide this year since we're refocusing on a new name. We've been skipping advertising in Austin-centric publications in general.. Feh. Not sure what the right path is on this one.
Now the question is: will the new site be done by the time the AD article comes out AND... should I ditch the name that we've done so much business under simply because I'm tired of it?
Do the owners of Gumps ever just hate their name?
If it's an Austin designer, we'll move forward with the name change. If it's J-(R)Ad or Kelly, I'll have to assume they remember the name, and I'll keep it because it 'sticks'.
A bummer because we have just picked an excellent new name, bought the www site, and the taglines are looking good. Mainly looking forward to a new logo and new image.
Jim thinks we can split the business and leave the B&B site under Austin Modern, and ramp up the new site under the new name and use all of the contacts we've made over the years to promote that site as something entirely new. The new site will have 90% vintage and 10% bespoke with a movement toward a 70/30 split by December 2010. We've been designing our own items influenced by vintage pieces (ala Anthropologie etc), currently shopping a chair prototype around for production quotes. I want to make something that is mine. My design, my look, my colors.
Today I found a clutch of Fornasetti plates and a gorgeous nickle and brass x base bench. The bench is a little Regency and little hard edged Empire.. thinking of having the bench seat reupholstered in white Tibetan lamb fur. Making it soft and fluffy at the edges.
In other news-
Currently I have two black eyes. Always knew that growing up the whitest kid in Palm Beach would some how come to mean something. It does. Skin cancer. Whoo. Color me lucky! Of course being the over achiever that I am, I'm the youngest my doctor has seen and I also managed to get not one but TWO spots on my nose.
If you have a little bump on your face that won't go away, get it checked while you're young and healing relatively fast. It still sucks. They basically take a melon baller and scoop it out. Effin gross. And people wonder why I like to keep my eyes closed the entire time I'm in a doctors office.
My reconstructive surgeon is a surgical otaku. He's really into it and didn't think for a minute that showing me a photo of a woman missing an entire nose wouldn't freak me out.
It did. All the blood drained from my face and I started laughing hysterically. WTF?? Who shows that kind of thing to people? Who keeps that on their laptop??
Of course I heard nothing of worst case scenarios after that, it was a struggle to keep the giggles at bay. I think I may have actually verbalized the 'wtf is wrong with you?!?' question out loud. Hope not. I sat up the rest of the night thinking about it. Eeeeeww.
So now I have itchy stitches on the bridge of my nose and next monday I get to have some more on the side of my nose. The swelling is spectacular. Husband says I have 'baby lion face'. He's too kind. lol
We were supposed to take a long cruise with S&R this spring, but I think my cruisin to the BVIs days are over.
Screw it. I wanted to go to Venice anyways.
Soooo. I'm tired of the shop name because it's been co-opted by everyone and their granny, but.. I have had this name for 7 years. 7 years is a long time to market a name and get it into people's heads.
I hate to walk away from that. Also, we just skipped the local vintage guide this year since we're refocusing on a new name. We've been skipping advertising in Austin-centric publications in general.. Feh. Not sure what the right path is on this one.
Now the question is: will the new site be done by the time the AD article comes out AND... should I ditch the name that we've done so much business under simply because I'm tired of it?
Do the owners of Gumps ever just hate their name?
If it's an Austin designer, we'll move forward with the name change. If it's J-(R)Ad or Kelly, I'll have to assume they remember the name, and I'll keep it because it 'sticks'.
A bummer because we have just picked an excellent new name, bought the www site, and the taglines are looking good. Mainly looking forward to a new logo and new image.
Jim thinks we can split the business and leave the B&B site under Austin Modern, and ramp up the new site under the new name and use all of the contacts we've made over the years to promote that site as something entirely new. The new site will have 90% vintage and 10% bespoke with a movement toward a 70/30 split by December 2010. We've been designing our own items influenced by vintage pieces (ala Anthropologie etc), currently shopping a chair prototype around for production quotes. I want to make something that is mine. My design, my look, my colors.
Today I found a clutch of Fornasetti plates and a gorgeous nickle and brass x base bench. The bench is a little Regency and little hard edged Empire.. thinking of having the bench seat reupholstered in white Tibetan lamb fur. Making it soft and fluffy at the edges.
In other news-
Currently I have two black eyes. Always knew that growing up the whitest kid in Palm Beach would some how come to mean something. It does. Skin cancer. Whoo. Color me lucky! Of course being the over achiever that I am, I'm the youngest my doctor has seen and I also managed to get not one but TWO spots on my nose.
If you have a little bump on your face that won't go away, get it checked while you're young and healing relatively fast. It still sucks. They basically take a melon baller and scoop it out. Effin gross. And people wonder why I like to keep my eyes closed the entire time I'm in a doctors office.
My reconstructive surgeon is a surgical otaku. He's really into it and didn't think for a minute that showing me a photo of a woman missing an entire nose wouldn't freak me out.
It did. All the blood drained from my face and I started laughing hysterically. WTF?? Who shows that kind of thing to people? Who keeps that on their laptop??
Of course I heard nothing of worst case scenarios after that, it was a struggle to keep the giggles at bay. I think I may have actually verbalized the 'wtf is wrong with you?!?' question out loud. Hope not. I sat up the rest of the night thinking about it. Eeeeeww.
So now I have itchy stitches on the bridge of my nose and next monday I get to have some more on the side of my nose. The swelling is spectacular. Husband says I have 'baby lion face'. He's too kind. lol
We were supposed to take a long cruise with S&R this spring, but I think my cruisin to the BVIs days are over.
Screw it. I wanted to go to Venice anyways.
Friday, January 8, 2010
It's 2010, do you know where you're going?
We do! Ever onward and upward!
2009 was terrific for us business-wise. We were fortunate enough to be discovered by some wonderful shoppers, several large stores purchased fixtures from us and we made a lot of friends in the window dressing industry!
The plan for 2010 is to rebrand. We're not really marketing to Austin anymore and "modern" is so overused it's almost a cliche. Modern Condos, Modern Tampons. Bleh.
Maybe it's like hearing you own name over and over again, after a while, you get sick of it.
Plus 'Modern' kind of pigeonholes you and when everyone and their aged Granny shopping at Target is 'modern' you want to be anything but. It was cool 8 years ago, but it's time to change up.
We're also rolling out a new site this year, having merch strewn across three very different websites is not really cohesive.
Lastly we're very close to closing on booth space to do Brimfield this spring! Fortunately we have family in the NE and I have buyers in the NE. So it's win win.
I would love to post some of the shop names we're kicking around here, but that would be stupid. Unique names are hard to come by. Most people just riff on existing businesses or steal someone elses. We're trying to come up with something unique.
And then we're going to trademark the hell out of it ;o)
2009 was terrific for us business-wise. We were fortunate enough to be discovered by some wonderful shoppers, several large stores purchased fixtures from us and we made a lot of friends in the window dressing industry!
The plan for 2010 is to rebrand. We're not really marketing to Austin anymore and "modern" is so overused it's almost a cliche. Modern Condos, Modern Tampons. Bleh.
Maybe it's like hearing you own name over and over again, after a while, you get sick of it.
Plus 'Modern' kind of pigeonholes you and when everyone and their aged Granny shopping at Target is 'modern' you want to be anything but. It was cool 8 years ago, but it's time to change up.
We're also rolling out a new site this year, having merch strewn across three very different websites is not really cohesive.
Lastly we're very close to closing on booth space to do Brimfield this spring! Fortunately we have family in the NE and I have buyers in the NE. So it's win win.
I would love to post some of the shop names we're kicking around here, but that would be stupid. Unique names are hard to come by. Most people just riff on existing businesses or steal someone elses. We're trying to come up with something unique.
And then we're going to trademark the hell out of it ;o)
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