Augustine

The first line from Augustine clothing is here! It has a very West Coast sensibility with lovely details, like silkscreened jacket lining, carved wooden buttons and more. Some images below:




Also, new work by Joanna Mendicino - we have little bubble vases that are more holey than solid, and the birdie vases - a cute chickadee ready for a sprig of spring flowers...

Drygoods

I just saw a link to Mahar Drygoods, a new website that sells kid-related, all handmade, wonderful goods. The site has Jen Corace graphics and is brilliant, the product selection is brilliant, the packaging on the gifts is too. Congrats to this new site, an antidote to the same baby products you've seen from everyone else.

Ariyele has graciously brought in her best-selling earrings to the shop. I've rearranged the jewelry a bit so come check it out. I have more tucked away so always, always ask to see more!

Two books of note - one is the New York Beautification Project, I may have mentioned it but it is finally on display, Ellen Harvey's installation of microsized traditional landscape paintings applied as, or right over, urban graffiti. Also I have a giant tome from Germany, it's called Illusive and is an indepth look at the state of illustration today, just a beautiful book. I sold one copy today and have one left, this is going to be a collector book I think.

We have decided on the print run size for Lena's new plate design, it's quite small and it will be limited to 2 per customer so everyone has a chance at getting it. Of course, there are no limits on her other designs! I'll put a pre-order link up on Rare Picks soon if you are not in New York and want to get your hands on one. I'm really excited about this show!

A Public Space

We have the first issue of A Public Space, a large and handsome magazine devoted to fiction and poetry as well as contemplating fiction and poetry. It's a Brooklyn publication and we are happy to support it!

If you are curious about the new products in the store, I have placed a few on Rare Picks for purchase. You can see the mobiles and jewelry by Polli, the tiny pebble vase, and a super new laptop bag by Highway.

Also - I have set up FeedBlitz on raredevice.blogspot.com so that you can have posts emailed to you. If you aren't ready for RSS for some reason, this is an easy way to stay up-to-date - blog updates are simply mailed to you as they happen. The signup box is on the right-hand side at the bottom. It's an experiment so if it needs tweaking, let me know.

An aside: Last night I was walking the dog when she ran over to the gutter and stared longingly into the street. I followed her gaze and low and behold, a tractor-trailer stacked with crates of fluffy white chickens was idling at the light. Too funny!

When It Rains, It Snows

Today I got about 12 boxes delivered at the shop. If you've been here, you know that means there is nowhere to walk! Add slushy wet floors to the mix and you can imagine the scene.

Anyway - the snow has stopped the sun is bright and there are puffy little clouds in the sky. Back to business...

Back in stock: Beccalights travel candles in a variety of fresh new scents, plus old favorites. Tiny bubble vases, as seen on design*sponge...I'll add these to the site for sale as soon as I can. I'm trying to figure out a way to highlight new additions to the site to make online shopping easier. So many projects!

Brand-new, I will snap some photos later: Abigail Percy jewelry, gorgeous stuff from the UK. Polli jewelry and mobiles from New South Wales. Recycled bag pouches made in India. Glass wobble vases. Wristlets and ipod cases by Aster + Sage of Rhode Island. Highway bags (formerly Hiponica) from New York. Garden in a bags are here too. So much stuff, I'm not sure where it's all going to go...

And - please see the Events section of RareDevice.net for more info about our first designer exhibition by the red-hot Lena Corwin!

Enjoying

I am enjoying the weather, rain and all. The rain has brought brilliant red and yellow striped tulips, sprouting up through the ivy and trash near the BQE overpass near my house. Seeing them there is like a little miracle. I have lots of growing thing on order, the Garden in a Bag items are arriving today or tomorrow, and I'll have some cactus in a can, sprouts growing out of a ceramic egg, and funny little plants that have messages somehow written on the seed pod (!) soon too. I have always liked plants but this micro-container gardening, due to being in NYC, is fascinating for me.

I am also enjoying some booty-shaking music from Von Iva in San Francisco and Voxtrot of Austin. Sadly I missed SXSW where both played, but hurray for MySpace and streaming music.

I am also enjoying the preparations for the Lena Corwin show. Besides the window display, we'll have new products by Lena made just for Rare Device. Collaborating with artists has been on my mind since opening the shop, and I didn't know I'd be doing it so soon, but the time just seemed right.

I am also enjoying the latest installment of Group Show. Photography is a big interest around here. Another collaboration in the works for April is a little Rare Device fashion photoshoot with Youngna Park, the talented photographer (plus Essexy DJ).

Swallow

Today, the Most Gorgeous Day Ever, I made an extraordinarily long loop around my neighborhood and ended up at Swallow, my favorite Smith Street boutique. The word I associate most with this shop is "treasure"...the walls are a smooth graphite grey and are a great backdrop for the handmade glass, intricate jewelry and rotating selection of artwork for sale. Ria was in the back, creating a necklace with practically the smallest beads I've ever seen. We chatted and swapped retail notes. Can I just mention again how great the shopkeepers in Brooklyn are? Do check out this store if you've never been...

I also dropped in at Dear Fieldbinder and fondled clothing in my new favorite shade (raisin). Lara has a super selection for spring, I guess it's all about skirts and dresses right now.

Speaking of clothes, I'm nearly out of Lemon Twist skirts and will get more in a bunch of fabrics and colors. This batch was brown which seems to be hard to find and quite popular. If you need anything in particular (more colors, more prints) let me know.