This Blog is Going Away!

Tonight we have done the Big Switchover from one webhost to another. We have at the same time switched from Blogger to Wordpress, so going forward, please check for our blog at http://www.raredevice.net/blog and switch your RSS feed to this link. Thanks and see you on the other side!

Year of the Pig

Happy New Year! It's the Year of the Pig, or rather Golden Pig, which only happens every 5 cycles of the zodiac (60 years) so if you know anyone turning 60 this year, they are very lucky indeed!

We might be open a tad late but we'll be open. We have hung the new pendant light in the window and it is just amazing when it's on. Come by and check it out.

In other news, Brooklyn Designs is coming and this year they are going to do a Mart, a little marketplace for Brooklyn-made goods. Info and an application is here.

A nice lady who works down the street at one of the yoga places came in for a new journal today, as she just ran out of space in her last one. She said she really appreciated interesting, handmade journals because when you fill one up, it's as if you become part of the work. I thought that was the nicest thing I heard all day. I told her that we'd be getting a slew of new notebooks from Mustertussi any day now - they are the epitome of thought and intent and action, all in a neatly sewn package. I am so excited to get these for the shop.

Bits and Pieces

Random thoughts and images on a very chilly Friday afternoon.

Steven makes awesome journals from foam, rivets and magnets, rubber, and little charms. They were so damn clever that I had to get a few for the shop! The magnet clasp is genius, as is the little image tucked inside, a slice of NY life taken on his cameraphone. I have picked out a cheerful flower pattern, one with a coffee charm (for your discriminating tasting notes) and one with the classic subway token - a nice welcome to the city gift.



Sian brought Ollie by to pick up work by another Olle...by the way the Olle Eksell book is way out of stock again. More are coming from Japan but it will be at least a month.



Polli sent a crazy cool laser-cut jewelry stand/art piece. This is a bad photo but there are cockatoos and some little Australian critters hiding in the trees.



This is the owl onesie from Ferdinand which I need to put in the webshop. I am stocking the size 6-12 mos. which is good for a newborn gift, I think.



Polli's stainless steel mobile in the window. We had a little sun today, it was nice.



Restocked: black glass sake sets by Sugahara, keyaki wood teacups, and cute hats by Elasticco.

Also, Donna of re-surface brought one very very limited edition A-light over, it's in the window now, and has a pink/mauve ceramic base. Looks great. She *also* brought by a pendant light, which I'm dying to install in the window. For those of you who love her A-lights but want something a bit bigger, this lamp (roughly 5" diam by 11") takes a 75w bulb and hangs from a 15" long cord (she includes a hardwire kit too). It will look awesome above your kitchen table, perhaps, or in an entryway. Pictures soon, email me for more info in the meantime.

Ferdinand

Yesterday we got a little package from Ferdinand in Portland, ME. More of Diane's great cards in stock, and some baby onesies that we will get into the webshop soon - the infamous squirrel playing a drum, and a sweet and serious owl print in burgundy ink, both on organic cotton bodies. We also received a bit more jewelry from Amy Tavern, including her tiny gold rings, we now range from a size 4.5 to a 9 in the store.

Also - the pet pillows are in the webshop!

New Cards

New cards in from Amy Ruppel, Lisa DeJohn, Forest Spirit and Juliette. Also a shot of the pyrex charms/necklaces by Jane D'Arensbourg. We strung them on waxed cotton to make them a little easier to deal with.

Pillow Pillow Pillow

Maybe it's due to the Westminster Dog Show going on in NYC right now, but our pet pillows are flying out the door! Design*sponge just posted about them and we are getting calls to purchase them - they'll be in the webshop as soon as we can manage it, but meanwhile email us if you are interested in getting one.

Donna Brady's A-lights are also benefiting from a blurb in Apartment Therapy last week, so much so that we are all out of them for a while, but you can pre-order now. She also was featured in Swedish design mag Rum which is very cool, even if we can't read the text!

Not much else going on - I'm at the shop today to catch last-minute V-Day buyers and to install Quickbooks on my delicate old Powerbook. Other things going on now or soon: Gordon Matta-Clark retrospective at the Whitney; David Grubbs and Ken Vandermark at Union Hall in Brooklyn this week; Lisa Congdon art show at Reform School in Los Angeles.

Today's CDs: new (Shins, the Books, Deerhoof) and old (Codeine, Dieselhed and the Geraldine Fibbers).

Around and About

Today I'm going to wander the neighborhoods, here and in Manhattan, and let my wrists and arms recuperate a bit. I have ulnar tunnel problems and the daily posting, as well as photo cropping, emailing, inventory receiving and general computer silliness, are really killing me lately. So, no images today, but here are places I am going to or want to check out:

If I were a guy, this would be heaven. Remodeled and reopening tomorrow. My first apt in Brooklyn was a sublet just around the corner from this wee shop.

I want to visit Denise's store and generally see that nabe, I never go up there and that's a shame.

I hear there is a new joint in Williamsburg called Mc & Co. that has great housewares and designy things, how can I resist? While I'm there, I will be visiting Sodafine and getting a coffee at Oslo.

I will hit Edge NY and Market NYC on Mulberry also to see new designers, I haven't scouted in a while.

OK maybe I won't get to all those places but I'm going to try!