Friday, October 06, 2006

Chilly

It's the first truly autumn day today - brisk, grey, quiet. When you walk into the shop, it smells like a forest, which is quite appropriate for Jill Bliss' exhibition. Don't forget to come out tomorrow and meet her! Jill is a sweet lady who mails pinecones to my California-born dog to chew on and play with...

And! Courtney Skott's tremendously cool tree stump stool is here and in the window. It is a marvel of construction. I will take a slew of pictures tomorrow when the camera battery gets recharged.

Had a visit from Denise of Beryl Boutique, on 6th Ave near Bergen, she is making amazing jewelry so if you are at the north end of the hood, go get your fix!

New at the shop: Last night my Dace shipment showed up right at closing. Dace is a clothing line in Canada...they make simple, structured pieces with great attention to detail. They also love interesting necklaces and pleats and so do I, so it's a great match! I also have some lovely things from Laura of Wren Handmade, who lives in the neighborhood. I have just a few great collaged cards and gift tags and some wee tiny stuffed elephants for a very sophisticated baby's room.

New online: I have added the Talla heart hoodie from our Fall Lookbook to the site, plus some Jill Bliss products, including the show poster.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Peace Industry

Today my Peace Industry rug arrived! Peace Industry was formed by a couple who wanted to help bring the age-old (and dwindling) art of felted rugmaking to the masses by combining modern new designs with ancient techniques. They are designed in California and made by Iranian rug makers. I believe new rug makers are being trained now as these have become more popular so the tradition is not going away soon, hurray! These are all wool and super thick and durable, Melina tells me they are doing well with families who are worried about longevity of a rug around young children, also they are made with natural dyes and are chemical free. Come check it out if you are curious what these feel like, I am working on getting a swatch set so you can order your own rug here in New York.

I have one more announcement - right after Jill's show, we have lined up Deadly Squire for the month of November. Deadly Squire's show is titled "Hayo Makamak" which boils down to "High Muck-a-muck" in English and so they are going to recreate a feast that such a person might throw...all made out of their fabrics. Yes, Deadly Squire turkeys and pumpkins and the like. I'll get the press release up soon!

Deadly Squire also has a show coming up called Converter - opening October 19 in Williamsburg. I will see you there!

Store restocks: Polli jewelry and mobiles and also a new silk dress from Talla which will be really cute at a holiday party.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Jill Bliss

The artwork of Jill Bliss is up in our window at Rare Device. Please come take a look! The reception is Saturday from 12-4pm and Jill will be in attendance. I think if you are nice, you can convince her to sign one of her limited-edition posters :)

The shop smells SO GOOD due to the pine needles shipped directly from Jill's front yard, and the Juniper Ridge soaps and sachets, also from Northern California. It makes me think of going on walks through Point Reyes.

Adds to the store - we have a lovely leather bag by Emmaluv of Philly who recycled a couch into three hip carryalls. We also have a bit of Purldrop/Sodafine handknits, some mittens and some headkerchiefs for the cooler weather...which is not here yet, but why not get ready now?

A few shop photos:





Monday, October 02, 2006

Fall Fashion

In between everything else, we managed to create a lookbook of some of our fall styles! Please take a look here (requires Flash) and let us know what you think. If you are interested in any of the clothing or jewelry, email us at info@raredevice.net. We haven't really put much clothing online as the sizing issues are a bit scary, but if there is demand for it, we will make it happen. Thanks to Youngna Park for the beautiful photography and our supermodel Alison, and thanks Lena and Josh for lending us their house for the day...and extra tummy rubs to the on-location puppy, Gus.



It's been a busy day - we also installed the Jill Bliss show and are madly excited, we hope you will be too. The afternoon sun was not cooperating with my camera but here is one sneak peek.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Visits

Shana of SML Bags brought a small stash of bags today. She loves her colored leather and we have got some gorgeous clutches that are going to *sing* against your brand-new black winter coat...if it ever cools down enough to wear it! I admit that I am loving the weather now, it's very much like my last home in the SF Bay Area...cool and breezy and then cloudy or sunny and energizing.

Elodie of Elasticco also brought in some new work - she too is acknowledging the change of seasons and this time with grey wool hats and mittens. The hats are more properly caps or elf helmets and they are screenprinted or have petals sewn on the side, or both...they work very well with my new elf haircut.

Nam Kim brought a Santa Fe tote bag in a new, limited color, which I will add to the website as soon as I'm able. It's a slightly crinkly leather in a shade I'm going to call "latte".

And, Youngna brought a disc with the Fall fashion photoshoot images! I will be going through these and posting a little lookbook as soon as I get a breather. Not only do you get a glimpse of the clothing and jewelry in the shop, you'll see a bit more of the location, which is Lena Corwin's house.

Whew! Time to ship Internet orders and prep. More Wednesday...