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Tags: antlers, Inspiration Found
Lightbulb lanterns by Japanese designer Kouichi Okamoto
The government mandated phasing out of 100 watt incandescent light bulbs began yesterday. The familiar “Edison” bulbs are longer being manufactured or imported.
I for one, dread this change. It’s not that I’m opposed to energy efficiency, I just haven’t found an energy saving bulb that doesn’t make my home feel like a doctor’s office.
My quest to find the perfect replacement bulbs has been confusing and frustrating. New bulbs I’ve tried are too cool, or too dim, or are slow to warm up. They’re now screwed into closet, basement and barn light fixtures; places where I don’t spend a lot of time. None of them truly mimics a “soft white” 100 watt incandescent bulb.
Please, can anyone recommend a CFL or halogen bulb that does?
Tags: light bulbs
I’m an unabashed sucker for creative packaging so it’s no wonder that this bottle of schnaps now resides in my freezer. Regardless of the quality of the bottle’s contents or price tag, I couldn’t resist it because of the edelweiss patch shot through with silver threads. Once the last drop of schnaps has warmed my gullet, the patch will certainly find a new home.
Happy New Year!
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If you’re an outdoor enthusiast you already know that even a 2-degree drop in body temperature could result in early stage hypothermia. Symptoms include slower heart rate, mental confusion, and lack of coordination. It also means adults find it hard to work and children find it difficult to learn.
As an outerwear designer I have a large assortment of winter coats and jackets. Some are samples, some are for testing and others are from production. I can’t possibly wear them all and I have a certain amount of guilt whenever I open my overstuffed mudroom closets. So donating my “old” coats to winter coat drives has always made me feel a bit better about sporting the latest and greatest.
Did you know that 15% of Americans, those living in poverty, are forced to consider a warm winter coat a budget “extra?”
Here are some startling facts about those who need a warm coat this year:
‘One Warm Coat’ was founded with one goal in mind. To collect coats to give to those who need them, free of charge.
If you buy a new coat this winter consider donating your old one. Visit One Warm Coat to find a coat drive near you. There are 17 coat drives listed within a 150 mile radius of where I live.
Your donation will warm needy children, women and men. And your heart as well.
Via: Wild Things Gear
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Tags: coat drive, coats, giving
Whether with ink, paintbrush, stone, loom, needle or mouse, keep on experimenting, pushing your limits, making a mess, dreaming! Be brave! Have fun!
Don’t forget to check out Poppy Gall Design Studio Thank You & Give Away! Do something creative this weekend!
Tags: Andy Warhol, art, quote
Time flies! I’ve been blogging here for almost two years now! My blogging style has evolved into a scrapbook of visual delights with less written observation (perhaps out of laziness or shortness of time on my part). Yet there’s continuity in the things that I am passionate about – color, apparel, the great outdoors, art , textiles, bicycles, winter, knitting and how they all tie back into great design.
Readers often ask how I keep coming up with ideas for my blog. I’ll post some tips that I find helpful soon. Luckily I have more ideas to blog about than I have time!
Thank you all for tuning in, for your loyalty and for sharing my posts with others! I’ve become less fearful of putting myself out there as the rewards of blogging are much bigger than the sum of its parts. I’ve met new clients and friends, reconnected with old ones, and been inspired by my reader’s comments and emails.
As I launch into my 3nd year of blogging I’d like some feedback. Feel free to answer any of the below questions, or comment as you please.
For all of you who respond to this request for constructive criticism, between now and December 1st, I will pool all your names together and pull one from a hat and send the “winner” a little something designed by me as a Thank You! Enter as many times as you’d like. You may respond in any of these ways:
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Thank you so much for your support! I look forward to hearing from you.
Tags: anniversary
Okay, who doesn’t think this looks like fun!? Enjoy your weekend!
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More vintage VW Bugs here.
Tags: VW bug
I’ve been having a great time post-Isis working on projects involving men’s apparel. It’s refreshing to work on a completely different category for a change. I developed this color trend mood board for Spring 2012 using a road trip as the theme to convey the seasonal color story.
Thinking of road trips, my husband and I are hitting the asphalt this week. We’re not sure where we’re going or where we’ll end up. Our motorcycles are packed with camping and hiking gear, a few maps, a credit card. We have some vague ideas of places and people we’d like to visit.
For us, the freedom of making spur of the moment decisions on where to eat, sleep and hike, and not being beholden to our watches or email is what road trips are all about.
What do you think makes the perfect road trip?
See you next week!
Tags: color trend, travel
The Tunbridge World’s Fair is an event that I eagerly anticipate every year. I love roaming through the barns admiring the different breeds of cows, sheep, chickens, rabbits and pigs from farms around the state and interacting with the 4-H-ers who raised and care for them. I like looking at all the old tractors and watching the work horses and oxen pull stupendous loads of concrete blocks. I like the smell of hay and manure and the sound of native Vermont voices.
It’s one day a year to indulge in “fair food” – blooming onions, corn dogs, maple cotton candy and fried dough. And then there’s the midway – with it’s crazy swirling rides and games where you shoot, pitch or toss to win stuffed animals and trinkets. It’s fun to tap your feet while the old timers contra dance in costume. There’s always live music. People watching is out of this world.
I’m fascinated by the giant pumpkins and stupendously tall sunflowers on exhibit as well as the smallest tomatoes and the bluest eggs and the most golden honey. Floral Hall is always filled with quilts, hooked rugs, knit items, baked good, flower arrangements, pickles and artwork – all tagged with prize ribbons. But what I love more than anything are the decorated vegetables made by kids!
I like to think that the kids who entered their silly and imaginatively decorated vegetable creations in this year’s 140th Tunbridge World’s Fair are making connections about where their food comes from, are nurturing their own little garden plot, and that they actually like to eat their veggies!
Tags: gardening, vegetables
There is a photographic project on ‘the ANTHROPOLOGist” blog by Foster Huntington called The Burning House. In it he asks people what ten or so possessions people would save from their burning homes? and why? He artfully photographs the items. He then categorizes the essays by generation, from the iGeneration thru Baby Boomers to The Greatest Generation. As Huntington discovered, the definition of the word “irreplaceable” is quite subjective, and is considerably different with age.
The participants in The Burning House project imagined saving items such as a Grateful Dead album, seashell and rock collections, handkerchiefs, a plastic bottle cap collection, a basketball, an espresso pot, artwork and favorite books, as well as more practical things including pets, laptop computers, car keys and passports.
When I came across the project a few weeks ago I was fascinated by the notion of the project and wondered what of my possessions I would want to save – large pieces of inherited furniture, photo albums, my portfolio, my bicycle… This was before Hurricane Irene hit Vermont with her fury last week.
When I think about the families who were caught off guard by the rapidly rising water and quickly needed to evacuate their homes and head to higher ground as the flood lapped at their doorsteps, I wonder what they grabbed in those minutes of panic? Their purse, raincoat, medication, cell phone? Surely they didn’t rummage through their drawers to find that favorite old shirt or their children’s christening gowns.
This isn’t to say that The Burning House isn’t an interesting look at the personal possessions that are meaningful to the people interviewed and which they would mourn the loss of. But perhaps the project should be called something a bit less dramatic like “The 10 Things That I would Hate To Lose In A Fire”.
I am fortunate not to have lost a thing in the flood. If you are able, please give to any number of Irene flood relief funds to help those people who have lost so much. Every little bit counts. For a list of Vermont relief funds click here or to donate manpower click here. Thank you for helping re-build Vermont.
Irreplaceable personal items of one participant in The Burning House project.
Here’s an easy way to help support the relief effort in Vermont in the wake of this week’s flood devastation – especially if you’re out-of-state and can’t wield a shovel. Two Vermont companies are making and selling benefit tee shirts. (Great looking with muck boots and a face mask!)
Order an “I’m With Vermont” tee shirt from Independent Vermont Clothing for $25 and the profits (about $15) will go to the Red Cross’ efforts to get Vermonters back on their feet. Shirts will be printed September 15th.
Awesome Graphics in Rutland, VT is screening “I Am Vermont Strong” tees and selling them for $25 and donating the profit to The Vermont Food Bank.
For more ways to help Vermont flood relief operations click here.
Have a wonderful weekend wherever your wheels take you!
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I’ve barely had time to sift through the 2,000 or so photographs I took (the curse and pleasure of digital cameras) since I returned from a 3 ½ week ski trip to Iceland in April and May.
As I organize and categorize my pictures and experiences, and re-savor the colors and textures of Iceland I’ll be posting them here as part of my “Iceland Journal”. I promise I won’t post even half of the photos I took!
I wonder if I even remember how to use a typewriter? Notice the Icelandic characters on the keys!
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Wow! It’s already been a year since I left Isis (the company I co-founded), launched Poppy Gall Design Studio and started blogging. It has been a very creative and invigorating twelve months! My studio has worked on projects ranging from technical outerwear design and product coloration to knitwear patterns and pajamas.
I’ve made more time in my life for making my own creative mess, including Lacey the Cow – my biggest piece of artwork ever! Smaller scale projects, some in various states of completion, include printmaking, knitting and photography. With endless hours of planning, and with my husband’s patience and labor, I have finally moved into my new studio. Having a great space is an incredible boost to my creativity.
Thank you to all who have been following my blog, and to those who have held my hand as I tread in cyberspace. It’s sometimes scary putting myself out there, but the process and rewards of blogging are much bigger than the sum of its parts. I’ve met new clients and friends, reconnected with old ones, and been inspired by my reader’s comments and emails.
As I enter into my 2nd year of blogging with far more ideas to post than I have time, I’d like some feedback from you, dear follower. What about my blog engages you? What topics do you find the most interesting or which do you skip over? Are there subjects you’d like to see more of, or less? Do I post too many pictures or too few? Is the information I share useful to you? Do you forward my blog to others? Are my posts too frequent or too few? How did you find out about my blog? I welcome all constructive criticism.
For all of you who respond to this request, between now and December 15th, by posting a thoughtful comment on this post, subscribe to my blog via FeedBurner email (see the box on the upper left sidebar on my blog), or if you “like” my Poppy Gall Design Studio facebook page, I will pool all your names together and pull one from a hat and send the “winner” a little something designed by me as a Thank You!
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My friend Marvie is a self-proclaimed “farmer-ette”. During the summer you will most likely find her tilling, weeding or harvesting her abundant 100‘ x 100’ organic vegetable garden. She sells the fruits of her green thumbs in a picture-perfect produce stand in front of her house. Each day brings different offerings, wildflower honey from her bees, fresh eggs from her chickens, bouquets of flowers or homemade pickles. During berry season one is apt to find freshly made jam. Payment is by the honor system and at the end of the day there’s usually a small pile of cash and a lot of empty baskets.
When the garden is finally put to bed for the winter, the farmer-ette takes a well-deserved break from her shovel and hoe, dons her hiking boots and backpack to spend six weeks exploring the Himalaya.
A tremendous amount of love and hard work goes into growing food. When you can, buy and eat locally grown foods!
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Tags: gardening, vegetables, Vermont