i think I'm in love

So, normally there's pretty much nothing on the regular telly we want to watch.  Last night we hit the jackpot and I'm still abuzz.  We started off with Project Runway (on-demand) which is so much better than it's been the last couple of seasons.  They're back in NYC (we have yet to see our favorite guy at MOOD, really long silver hair in a pony tail that always helps us when we're there), some of the designers might actually have some skills, Heidi is pregnant (the girl's a machine), her raucous good humor in rare form.  Moving along through the on-demand maze, we decided to check Sundance hoping Man Shops Globe might have reappeared.  Even better we discovered a 3 part series they're airing called Savile Row about the legendary tailors and the challenges of staying in business - first episode, horror of horrors, Abercrombie & Fitch are moving in.  Can't wait for the next two.

Then we moved on just in time to the Ovation Network.  They've got a whole bunch of programming under the moniker, Drop Dead Design.  The one we caught was Everything Is Art.  This one found me hauling out my pencil and paper to take notes.  Now on my must have and must check into in depth list, John Maeda's book, The Laws of Simplicity and a Japanese retailer, Muji.  John Maeda is the president of RISD and, from the little bit I saw, a certifiable genius.  His book looks to be a necessary addition to my library.

Then, when I really went all limp and new I was in love for sure, came a segment on Muji.  Everything they do reflects absolute simplicity, no logos, no bells and whistles, clean straightforward functional design.  I'm trying not to drool here.  I can't abide anything with logos emblazoned all over it (the pocket stitching on my Levi's is the only exception).  For the most part all my clothing is solid colors - black, brown, ochre and charcoal gray.  Okay, so I'm not all gloom and doom and somber colors - I do have some gorgeous scarves in some gorgeous colors, all made by Jacki Pallister in Port Townsend, pretty much the most amazing artist I've ever met.  As for Muji, I've just barely dipped my mouse into the website, but for starters, the 'play Muji' section is most excellent. 

Turns out, Sundance has a bunch of fashion oriented programming coming up.  One of our favorites, Signe Chanel, a series that follows Lagerfeld through a season from sketches to runway, starts on the 12th.  There's more and the Sundance link has all the details.

Heaven, I'm in design heaven.  So much inspiration in one evening.  Serendipitous heaven!

I've actually gotten a bit of work done this week.  Some added inspiration came in the mail on Friday - an exquisite little bundle of Basha Beads  and one of my recent Ebay purchases, a small lot of herkimer diamonds.  I've had a few ideas mulling around for the Beads and I'm going to try firing the herkimers and see what happens.

Mid-week I started working on some variations of my talismans, tiny ones on braided silk.

I'd also been thinking about jewel encrusted crosses for the last couple of weeks and had just finished a couple when the mail ran.

First thing that came to me for Barbara's beads, combining them with said jewel-encrusted designs.  One bead just happened to be an exact match for the cross I had made - raw diamonds, yellow sapphire in the center, ruby at the top.

The other thing I finally figured out how to do - making a self-needle with my Gudebrod silk.  The key was a new pair of super sharp scissors (Omnigrid) for skiving down the end of the thread.  Then give the, now frayed, end a twist and run it repeatedly through beeswax.
My tools ...

The chunk of beeswax is one of my most cherished possessions.  It belonged to my grandfather who was a shoe repairman.  Back in the day, his shoe repair shop was an old city bus.

When I knew the bus, it was permanently parked in his yard, full of all his old tools as well as copious amounts of junk; the underneath was fenced in for the rabbits he raised for food.  I thought the rabbits were pets.  Unfortunately they neglected to tell me the food part, so when Grampa teased me about eating my cats, I believed him.  Grampa had a strange sense of humor.  But I've gotta say, that bus was probably the best playground a kid like me could have.  I still remember how it smelled, leather and beeswax and rust and musty upholstery.

So the wonderful thing about the silk self-needle thing is now I can get my size F silk through the teeny holes in my large cache of also tiny faceted gems, well most of them anyway.  The holes in the raw diamonds are even smaller and too abrasive for silk.  The necklace on the far left is the first prototype for a new series.

All in all, a good week, crummy weather and all.  Well, we did have one sunny day - Wednesday was a stunner - and we had about an hour's worth of sunshine this afternoon.  Zoe and my paperwhites and I were very happy.

A couple more new links ... Jurgen Lehl - more beautiful, minimal design.  Still perusing, but looks promising.  And another design blog that I pop in on every now and then - similar to Pia's - Abundance.

Not sure where the new jewels are going.  The diamond cross is a gift, but everything else is to-be-determined.  I'm hoping to eventually phase out my Etsy site and switch everything over to the KVK site.  I'm gathering pieces for AOT, but I'm thinking I'll do the Etsy thing for now.  Check back in a day or so........

Okay, so that's it for now.  Time to get dinner started (can't seem to switch over to 'supper') and get ready to watch some commercials and maybe some football in between.

many blessings - kvk