Weekend

It's a blustery day here in Brooklyn, and appropriately I am winding a ball of birthday yarn (thanks Laura!) to later turn into a hat. Hat season, can you believe it! Juliet of Smith & Hone visited me yesterday to show me her scarf and hat styles for this year. She handknits or handlooms each piece. We'll get a few styles plus a great camel-colored bolero which is a nice intermediate layer under a heavier coat.

What else...Domestic has a ton of new vinyl decals, we're getting some old faves and also some of the new styles. They are out of stock of two of the coolest (one is a series of letters that look stitched, and the other is a set of clock hands and a variety of stickers to "build" your own clock on the wall) but we'll get them in as soon as we can.

Kbox is up on the site for purchase, and we are mentally preparing for the weekend. If we weren't at the shop we'd be checking out the Sky Mirror at Rockafeller Center, or maybe the contemporary Japanese ceramics show at the Japan Society.

Mimi

I am on a bag hunt. OK I guess that's not unusual, but I am really trying to find great quality bags from small designers, and I think I am succeeding...this morning I received a little shipment from Mimi, a lady in London who has a shop with the same name where she sells her handmade leather bags, purses and wallets. The store simply smells great, like leather, now that the bags are hung up on the wall! I also have some little frame coin purses, each lined in whimsical prints. I really want to visit Mimi's shop - in fact her whole neighborhood - it sounds like the coolest area (more about Spitalfields shopping here).

This weekend we're getting a few clutches by SML Bags, Shana is a local designer and we spotted her at the Market NYC and have been waiting for the right time to introduce her wares. She also has a fondness for colored leather, cool fabrics and also appliques or ribbon detail.

I have two more bag lines I am looking at, one is leather and the other is made from old Italian wool army blankets (!) but I will save those for later.

Side note: If you love shoes, they are going fast at Sodafine.com's new online shop. She has Chie Mihara at great prices, as well as a selection of clothing from the shop.

Other side note: Lena Corwin popped by with her pup Gus and some of the best-selling "Travel" plates from her collection. I have a lil' stack of them at the shop, and you can see it in the window as well.

New at Rare Device

The usual Wednesday bonanza at the shop...we are restocked on the Melie Bianco bags, and I have more of the cool colored leather ones coming in a couple weeks. Also, we have a fabulous red Poketo tee with birds on it, but not the cuddly kind...and we have new Pancake and Franks cards from San Francisco. There is a red tiger tattoo card for all occasions and some other treats.

On to the new stuff! We are proud to carry limited-edition books from Cloverfield Press in Los Angeles. The folks running the press are teaming up an author and an artist to make lovely mini books of short fiction, housed in a letterpressed cover. We have 4 titles, including a little Haruki Murakami story and one by filmmaker Miranda July.



Also new are Kbox from Australia. These are the minimalist's jewelry box! They are lovely black aluminum with rubber micro feet so they don't scratch. They are modular and can stack, and there are two styles of felt inserts in 4 colors to accomdate earrings, cufflinks, bangles etc. I love them. Soon to be on the website.



Finally, a little jewelry from Swallow, one of my favorite shops in Carroll Gardens. Ria is a sculptor and makes wonderful jewelry, we are lucky to get a bit for the shop.

Metal

Well I almost forgot to post about this, but I heard some Van Halen in a store today (you know the album, the long long intro...yes I used to own it!) and it reminded me. Judith from Analogous Jewelry came by with more of her razorblade necklaces as well as a few new designs. I think the outstanding one is a zigzaggy snake with a heart-shaped pearl, much like something from the Lucky Charms box, in its mouth. However she also brought a little hand, cast in silver and curled up into heavy metal horns, strung on a chain. Oh my I laughed a LOT. You have to come see this.

On the way, I believe: elegant fall clothes from Dace, a Vancouver line, plus a new candle line, and oh yeah the Jill Bliss drawings! I am so excited to get it, though not exactly sure yet how I am going to hang it all. Also, as a special treat, we'll have one of Courtney Skott's faux bois stools in the window too. It is so gorgeous, she upholstered a "stump" in tea-dyed silk with a bumpy, removable bark cover. So much California talent, I can't stand it! Don't forget to come meet Jill on Saturday at the shop.

Finally, Lena Corwin is kindly bringing some of her bestselling melamine plate designs in for the holidays. These decorative plates would look sweet on your wall.