today's project

I ordered a variety of shipping boxes from the P.O. and the rest of them arrived today. I will be weighing items one by one and recording the weights, so b can come up with shipping formulas. Like I said, I've had some crazy allergies for the past couple of weeks, mixed in with a pulled muscle and now an outbreak of hives. nice! so I'm kind of poking along, while b works full steam ahead. you wouldn't believe the features he's building into the site. Next up I need to work on the overall look of the site. We initially came up with an *olde store* theme, which morphed into an old barn look, and now I'm thinking fresh and green for spring. I took a load of photos last week as the trees were all sprouting with new leaves on my block. you know that new, lime-green color the leaves have before they've matured? I love it! okay, off to do some weighing!

sneek peak #8

I had a bit of a sluggish week, dealing with suddenly warm weather and a burst of pollen into the air. as I plodded through, b forged ahead with the technical aspects of the site. finally on sunday we had diane come over, a former co-worker at dna who had modeled for us a year and half ago. since then b has beefed up his lighting equipment and we were able to shoot the session smooth as silk. having t-shirts modeled helps a lot when selling them on a website. all t-shirts are cut differently and it's good to be able to see how they fit. paste t-shirts come in men's and women's cuts, the women's made of a lighter, stretchier fabric. some of the styles were only available for men, so I ordered a few extra smalls. you'll be able to see the difference in how they're cut when the whole collection is presented. I'm going to have b model some of the shirts too, so you can see how they look on a real man. shown are paste's just say yo and chouette's unisex squares t in black/blue.

sneak peek #7

We're getting really close. I've got just a few more products to photograph today. B has been implementing the shopping cart functions for the pat few days and getting the design closer to how we want it. We still need to set our shipping rates and fill in the about and info pages. Leaving only about a week to design the actual site was cutting it a little close. Note to self.

So here's something I'm way in love with- the Cottage Incense Pot from Japan's PULL + PUSH products. Young designer Nobuhiro Sato uses materials traditionally used in building construction- mortar, glass and steel, to create his little abodes. Also in his collection are planters and ash trays. He is fascinated by the way materials age in the world and he replicates this process in his house-inspired designs. As the products are used the smoke, ash, water and dirt age the pieces, giving them a beautiful, mellowed look.

The cottage burner uses cone or brick incense and the smoke rises out of the chimney. I am currently looking for incense that I will make available in the shop.

sneak peek #6

as you might know the site is supposed to launch today. and as things go, we're not quite ready- but very close. so I'll share with you another sneak peek. this one is by way of, um...Brooklyn! another talented designer and extreme ecoist from our fair borough is Daniel Baxter of Kreepy Doll Factory. I had such fun picking out the dolls we'll be selling. While photographing them I felt like I was shooting portraits, the dolls are so full of personality. They really are stunning in their detail and craftsmanship. made of 100% repurposed materials- they even were shipped in a re-used boxed, lovingly styled and given new life.

sneek peak #5

next up from the county of Kings (aka Brooklyn, NY) is PASTE t-shirts. living in a city that has such a wealth of fashion and visual information, it takes something special to stand out and catch my attention. I was drawn to paste's marriage of urban references (bling jewelry, old skool kicks) with historical cultural icons. (Nancy Reagan, Sigmund Freud) not to mention paste's mashup of super soft prewashed cotton tees with FOILS. nice touch. welcome, PASTE.

a sneaky peek (from "and friend")

From the always vague Delicious Monkey studio: another singular thing.

What is it? No one really knows for sure.

They will only say "It's for making the Popeye arms, No?!"

I don't speak Latvian, so that's all I got.
 - and friend

sneak peek #3

As a jewelry designer with a discerning eye, I couldn't resist the cheeky creations of Brooklyn duo Design Glut. Ordering from them seemed like a no-brainer. The vivacious Kegan was the first vendor to deliver goods to our little home-studio-shop. I've subsequently found out that most of our nyc designers live/work not only in the same borough, but right in our own neighborhood. take that, Williamsburg! Along with Kegan's partner Liz, Design Glut is more than a design studio, as they present interviews on their site, making it "an informational hub filled with stories, interviews, and advice from creative entrepreneurs."

"We don’t make things unless we truly believe there is a reason for them to exist. Our objects start conversations, cause you to crack a smile, add something meaningful to your life.

We use product design as a medium to convey messages... Our objects have a counter-message: think for yourself, and consume intelligently rather than mindlessly."

that I like.