Blooms Make the Room

I’m super excited for this upcoming VIRTUAL flower arranging workshop event that I am co-hosting with my fabulous artist designer friend Annie Damphousse of Housse Studio!

Anyone is welcome to join us – virtually – on Sept. 10th at 1pm!!!

Along with getting bunches of farm fresh flowers from Alice's Table delivered right to your door to create a beautiful sunflower filled floral arrangement AT HOME – I will be teaching this part via a private Zoom link – attendees will also get a SNEAK PEEK inside Annie’s studio where she creates original works of art from paintings to textile designs to custom commissioned home goods (her new designer-inspired pillow collections are gorgeous!)

Join us and YOU can brighten someone’s day ...

Last October, Annie donated her styled bar cart (in photo above) to the annual dining by design Heading Home to Dinner fundraiser held at the Boston Design Center.

This year, she has come up with a creative way to give back to this community that is experiencing a greater need than ever.

A note from Annie ... 

“I am creating a special painting – inspired by the gorgeous colors in the floral arrangement – which will be raffled off after the event. All attendees will be entered into the raffle, PLUS have an opportunity to purchase additional entries into the raffle during the event.

All raffle proceeds and a portion of each ticket price will be donated to Heading Home – a Boston based charity that provides housing and support services to families and individuals in need.”

Grab your tickets by Friday, August 28th to reserve your spot and to receive your fresh flower delivery (from 1-800-flowers) in time for our virtual workshop on Thursday, September 10th! 

Get your Blooms Make the Room event ticket HERE. 

Transformation Tuesday: R+F and buildOn

Time to interrupt the tidying up of my home office for the Calling It Home #OneRoomChallenge to share what’s new with Rodan + Fields. One of the reasons why I love this company is because they focus on providing solutions, opportunity, and hope. First, they have created amazing products that actually work, solving sensitive skincare challenges, and as a result providing daily confidence to those who have transformed their complexions. Second, they are super smart as a company, distributing these products through an easily duplicatable social-media driven business model that empowers their Independent Consultants to easily earn their way to financial freedom on their own time, at their own convenience. And if all that were not enough, they have also made it their mission through their Prescription For Change Foundation to support a very important organization, buildOn, that empowers urban youth to transform their neighborhoods through intensive community service. There is actually a new buildOn chapter located right in Boston. What they do for kids and communities is really amazing. Transforming. Life changing. They are a movement, not a charity, and I am proud to be a part of a company that supports their efforts.

On November 6th, for every make-up free selfie posted on social media tagged with #RFGoNaked, Rodan + Fields will donate $4 to provide one buildOn program day for students in need. Consider posting a make-up free selfie on November 6th. A selfie for a good cause is a beautiful thing! 

Founder and CEO of buildOn

Jim Ziolkowski author of “Walk in Their Shoes:

Can One Person Change the World?”

“The buildOn movement is made up of passionate people from all walks of life who are committed to the belief that service and education can end poverty in our world. With your support we are breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations through service learning programs in many of America’s most under-resourced high schools and by building schools in some of the world’s poorest villages.”

“buildOn’s service learning programs engage students in challenging urban areas and show them the limitless power they can achieve through community action. In each of these programs, youth contribute intensive local service – helping the homeless, seniors and children in their communities – to confront urban struggles with passion and optimism.”  {Learn more about buildOn here}

photos via Rodan + Fields

 Watch the video about Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation partnership with buildOn

#changingskinchanginglives

my Rodan + Fields site

You are Invited: Sip + Shop at TaggArt Studio

Join me along with some of my fashion-forward friends as we share what’s new and trending in our respective businesses! 

Wednesday, September 16th from 6pm–9pm

TaggArt Studio, 339 Salem Street, Wakefield MA

Light bites and refreshments will be provided.

Raffle to benefit GatheringChangeInc.org

taggartstudio.com

yblacker.myrandf.com

stelladot.com/cindyhanshaw

heidifurlong.cabionline.com

Questions? Contact yblacker@verizon.net

Hope to see you there!

The gift for someone who has everything ...

Monique Johnson, Susan Kanoff and Sharon Sullivan

preparing for The Swap Soiree in North Andover 

Some people can be so difficult to buy for during the holiday season: they have a closet full of designer fashions, racks of shoes, purses for every occasion, more accessories than a small boutique  ... what could you possibly add to their already full closets? My suggestion? An hour or two with fashion coach Susan Kanoff of A Great New Look.

Susan is a wardrobe consultant who can just as easily fill a closet as she can edit one that is overflowing with too many choices. She offers gift certificates for wardrobe consults and will even shop with clients to help them find just the right combination of wardrobe items to make them feel and look their best. She also has a wealth of fashion connections and style tips that she is happy to share with her friends and clients.

Wardrobe consult “after” photos from Susan’s website.

Click here for the story behind the makeover.

Where to find Susan ...

On Wednesday, November 28th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm she is hosting a designer clothing swap in North Andover called The Swap Soiree. Along with event planner Monique Johnson of Monx Design House, these two women have coordinated quite an evening of fashion fun. For the price of an $18 ticket, guests can shop rack after rack of designer fashions, shoes, and bags and take home as many bargains as they are willing to swap.

They are still collecting clothing donations from 9am to 4pm tomorrow at St. Michael’s Church on Main Street if you want to thin out your own closet, otherwise, guests are able to buy tokens tomorrow night for $4 a piece, with each token good for one item. Such a win-win!

Image courtesy: Robert Jason Salon of Andover 

I stopped by tonight to drop off some donations from my own closet – I feel emotionally lighter already – and saw lots of like-new pieces and others with tags still on them (we all have a couple of those in our closets ; ) Any clothing that does not get taken home after tomorrow night’s event will be donated to a local charity. Along with designer labels there will be seasonal refreshments and raffle items (Robert Jason Salon of Andover is just one of the sponsors). I will be looking for some sparkly items for my holiday wardrobe and will be asking Susan for her advice while I shop. 

Tickets are still available through EventBrite.

For holiday gift certificates, contact fashion coach Susan Kanoff.

New England Finery + Habitat for Humanity

New England Finery Issue 6: Rendering by architect Andrew Steingiser

I am really excited to announce that the spring issue of New England Finery Magazine is now online! Well at least part of it ... this issue will be covering from beginning-to-end the building of a two-family home that will take place over the course of ONE week! Across the country, over 200 homes will be built by Habitat for Humanity affiliates during a nationwide Builders Blitz this June, and two of those homes will be built just 30 minutes from where I live. The Merrimack Valley chapter of Habitat for Humanity is partnering with a team of some pretty amazing building professionals and dozens of local volunteers to ensure that the home you see in the rendering above is completed within the one week time frame. In order to achieve this goal, there is a lot to be done before the build. Click here to see where the story begins ...


Would you like to be a part of this exciting project? Click here for volunteer and sponsorship opportunities.

Flash mob for change!

If you were presented with the opportunity to perform in a spontaneous flash mob or hide behind a video camera to record it, which would you choose? Tuesday night, I was standing high up on the Wakefield bandstand as a crowd gathered below me and started to dance to the tune of Katy Perry’s “Firework.” Having missed the two official rehearsals prior to our first ever mob dance, I felt much more comfortable capturing the scene on my camera than performing with what turned out to be quite an enthusiastic group! Today I created a video out of the footage and thankfully my teenage son was home to help me figure out how to do that : )

Note cards featuring the Wakefield common at sunset are available
through Gathering Change. All proceeds are donated to help
support neighbors in need. Photo credit: Roy Goodwin

Gathering Change, Inc., along with performing random flash mob dances, collects spare change to help support local food pantries and social programs. All of our volunteer performers donated their time, and many brought bags full of change to yesterday’s get together. Thank you to everyone who was brave enough to get out there, and thank you to those who support Gathering Change by spreading the word (and liking us on Facebook ; )

The gift of wine

“I have something for you!” my younger sister exclaimed with a twinkle in her eye one Friday night when I was over her place for a visit. “What? It isn’t even my birthday?” I replied. We were sitting in her kitchen enjoying drinks and snacks. She got up quickly and disappeared into her pantry. When she returned, she handed me a tall green bottle (ooh, my favorite type of gift!) and she said with a grin, “I saw this and thought of you.” Here is what the label on the back said ...



How often do people tell you what they really think of you or how they see you, and then hand you a bottle of wine? Usually a few drinks come first before the compliments ; ) While I wouldn’t consider myself a drama queen, I do like her outfit the best of all the other Middle Sisters in the wine’s lineup of characters (check them out here) and I do like social events, and fashion shows, and fundraisers ... hmmm. Just to be sure, I took a test on the website to determine which Middle Sister I really am (I actually discovered I am a Smarty Pants, so there, although I might have some Goodie Two Shoes in me, too : ) The Middle Sisters, whose motto is “there’s a bit of middle sister in all of us,” even have a cute blog with random – and funny – posts from each of the wine girls, like the time Drama Queen was caught out in public wearing Crocs (she wasn’t happy about it!)






While on the site, I discovered that the Middle Sisters donate to organizations that support and promote sisterhood like Dress for Success and Wine, Women & Shoes, which produces socially engaging events that combines – you guessed it – shoes, wine and girlfriends to raise funds for women and children’s causes. Well, I’ll drink to that!





And while I don’t have a large supply of either shoes (I’m too practical for that) or wine in my house (if I buy it, I drink it ; ) I do think this t-shirt that Linda Smith picked out to sell at New England Fine Living is kinda cute. It is available in-store or online and will be seen in the next issue of New England Finery Magazine which, BTW, I am working on as we speak! Look for it hopefully by the end of June along with a new website devoted just to New England Finery. Obviously I have a lot of work to do over the next five days, so unfortunately I will have to keep my wine drinking to a minimum ; )

Top 3 opportunities to give

Whether you give your time or your dollars, or choose to spread the word, there are so many opportunities to give. Here are my top three choices for this week ...

Event: Bloggers Day of Silence and
Disaster Relief Collection

Where: Click here for list of participating blogs

When: Friday, March 18, 2011
Collection Dates: March 14-31, 2011

Why: All donations will go towards emergency shelter
and life saving supplies to Japan via Shelterbox.

Like Shelterbox

on Facebook

Event: Room to Dream Foundation
Carnival of Dreams

When: Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 7pm

Where: Artists for Humanity,
100 West 2nd Street, Boston, MA

Why: Donations will help provide chronically ill
children with healing environments.


Like Room to Dream
on Facebook

Event: Gathering Change Hunger Awareness
Fundraiser Breakfast

When: Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 9:30am

Where: Thomson Country Club,
North Reading, MA

Why: All donations will support local food pantries
and a percentage will be matched by the
Feinstein Foundation One Million Dollar
Hunger Challenge.


Like Gathering Change, Inc.
on Facebook



Have a great weekend
whatever you do!

xoxo yvonne

Jewelry for a cause ...

Today I’d like to share with you the reason why I am a JessLC Ambassador. After seeing many design blogs sporting the JessLC ad banner, then reading about the jewelry line and it’s creator, Jess Constable, I found myself following Jess’s blog on a daily basis to see what she was up to next ... I was curious about her upcoming design collections, but I was also hooked on her “this is what is happening in my life right now” authenticity. The way she candidly shares her ups and downs along with the lessons she has learned on her journey as a jewelry designer, business person, and unique individual had me hooked!

Soc Chic The Good Intention Necklace

And the fact that she created a line of jewelry to promote and benefit social causes was just what I was looking for as a fund-raising item for a local charity that I am involved with, Gathering Change, Inc. The logo that I designed for Gathering Change has a heart at its center, and the charity’s mission is to help neighbors who are struggling during these challenging economic times. The Good Intention Necklace that Jess has designed is the perfect match for future fund-raising events, and 10% of the sale of each necklace would be donated directly to Gathering Change. I think it would make a thoughtful gift and be a nice way to give to others at the same time. Below are a few more pieces that I love from different collections that Jess has designed.

Franklin Dream Bigger Braille Necklace

I LOVE this design concept! “Dream Bigger” is actually imprinted in braille on this piece (other pieces include “Breathe” and “Be Present”). How cool to be able to use a necklace as a touchstone!

State Thick Cable and Heart Bracelet

This bracelet is pretty, delicate and strong ...
and it also comes in sterling silver.

Division Chevron Earrings

The chevron is a popular design trend right now.
It always looks stylish and energetic!

Armitage Simple Cable and Link Bracelet

I love how this bracelet combines both
gold and silver. It is a great everyday piece
that would look good on anyone.

Jess started designing and selling jewelry at the age
of 15 (read her story here) and her passion for her product is obvious. Read more about Jess and the inspiration behind her designs by checking out her blog, Makeunder My Life. While you are there, be sure to check up on her friend and guest blogger, Piper Toth, who has taken the leap to create a business of her own, named after her blog One Sydney Road.

If you would like to be a Jess LC Ambassador,
contact Jess at jess@jesslc.com

I love being able to support other creative people
like Jess, who are doing what they love and
are inspiring others to do the same!

xoxo
yvonne

Rugs as art + Saturday yard sale

A carpet covered trunk from Landry & Acari


During the North Shore Design Show held at the Wenham Museum in May, I was able to sit in on a number of design lectures that were scheduled over the course of the week. While in attendance, I took lots of notes (along with many snapshots) knowing that I would share what I learned with my blog readers at a later date. Today I will discuss some
really large works of art ...

A loom was brought into the museum to
demonstrate the art of carpet weaving.

Jerry Acari holds a Chinese Art Deco carpet designed
with what looks like a Guardian Lion or Foo dog.

Many varieties of rugs were displayed from Landry & Acari’s oriental rug gallery. Jerry Acari, who has been in the rug business for over 40 years, is a noted expert on oriental rugs and often lectures on the who, what, when, where and how behind these functional works of art. Each piece is representative of quite likely a year or two of concentrated human effort, in which teams of weavers combine their heart, soul and spirit to create their textile masterpieces. It really is amazing how much cultural information can be found in each of these carpets, especially if you know what to look for ...

I like how this Sardis carpet from India and the
old-fashioned jar of marbles on a sill in the
lecture room shared the same colorways.

Persian Sarouk,
circa 1915

In general, carpets that are produced by hand are often more visually interesting than those produced to the exact standards and measurements of a machine. Sometimes there will be a change in thread color (the weaver ran out of the original choice), or different types of wool may be used depending on market availability at the time, and some carpet ends may even stop short pattern-wise because the rug makers were ready to call it a day! Modern carpet makers, like Karastan, often try to emulate these unplanned –
yet distinctive – pattern variations.


This Art Deco carpet from Turkey
dates back to around 1925

In the photo above, the rug in the center, with its symmetrical and curvilinear pattern, is called a “city” rug. City rugs are created in heavily populated areas that are exposed to the influence of a
variety of world markets.

A “tribal” rug is often asymmetrical in pattern, with a wool foundation, done in a wide variety of colors. This type of carpet, like the Karabagh from Azerbejan above, is more representative of family or tribal influences over outside markets.

This wool and silk Suzani tapestry was created by a tribe in Turkmenistan and features fine needlework and brilliant colors. Bold geometric patterns like this are a popular trend in design right now.

A bridal spread (used for a newly married couples bed) is created by village women combining pieces cut from their embroidered shawls, stitching them
together with golden threads.

Rugs often have different looks from one end to the other. On the one above, you can see how the color of the flowers in the center rectangle are lighter at the bottom, with more pinks and whites, while the top has more navy and scarlet blossoms. When you lay a carpet in your space, walk around it and take a good look from each angle before deciding upon final placement. The effect of light and dark can be dramatically different! Inquire about taking a carpet home to see how it looks in your home before purchasing ... it is the best way to know for sure if a rug will work with your design plan.

An interesting story: Synthetic red dye was often applied by hand and paint brush to the tips of each carpet strand of a multitude of imported rust colored Sarouk rugs over a period of twenty years that were originally ordered to be an oriental red (the rose colored strands unexpectedly changed to rust as a result of alkaline in the finishing process). Then in the 1990’s, these same rugs were often stripped back to their original rust colorings by a company that is still based in Poughkeepsie, NY. Trends come and go, but it seems a well-made oriental will last forever!

This carpet was custom-designed by Landry & Acari to coordinate with the colors and design of an oriental pattern. This is a good way to add a
modern look to a traditionally-styled room.

Today’s technology of communicating via the internet has considerably decreased the production time of carpets made over seas, not to mention it is easier to achieve the desired end result when images can be sent back and forth with the click of a mouse! It is not unusual to see a tent on-site with a computer set up so that the rug foreman can relay design and pattern information to the talented team of weavers. If you were to order a custom rug today, you are likely to receive it in 4 to 5 months instead of having to wait years for your work of art to arrive.
Think of the design possibilities!


To read more about Landry & Acari and their
commitment to their community, click here.




For information about the Good Weave campaign that works to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry and the companies that support the mission of
the Good Weave program, click here.

To donate to Barakatworld, an organization working in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Boston to support the education of children and women of carpet-weaving communities by building schools and providing free education, visit Barakatworld.org

And don’t forget, carpets
aren’t just for floors!

Kilim Footstool from Landry & Acari

For ten tips on choosing
the right carpet, click here.

If you are local and in the market for a new rug, head over to the one-day yard sale that Landry & Acari is participating in at the Beverly Depot parking lot (Saturday, June 19th only). Maybe you will find the perfect combination of pattern and color that you have been looking for? You will surely find some beautiful carpets worth a closer look. Also at the sale: Circle Furniture, Designer Bath, and Moynihan Lumber. I just might have to head over myself since our kitchen and bath are still gutted without anything to put in them! Click here for photos from last years sale.
Happy hunting!