PHOTO: The Yellow Flower

(Warning: Shameless Self-Promotion): I'm excited to share that my photo, The Yellow Flower, has won 2nd Place (out of nearly 3000 entries) in the 2009 Army Digital Photo Contest! See more here.

GIFT IDEA: Handmade For The Holidays!

The South is chock full of indie-prenuers, and crafty chicas. Support handmade this holiday season! Click on the pictures below to be transported to each shop.

Simple Joys Paperie - Tennessee

Jean Skipper - North Carolina

Cotton Purr - Georgia

The Quiet Owl - Alabama

Cotton Colors - Mississippi

L. Young Studio - Texas

Manic Muffin Totes - Alabama

Buggy Town Candle Company - Georgia

FIAZ CO - South Carolina

GIFT IDEA: Fort Rucker Remembered desk calendar

Shameless plug: I made the paper in Dothan AL for the Fort Rucker Remembered desk calendar that I shot and produced. Below is an excerpt of Debbie Ingram's piece:

Anne Kristoff, a longtime media and entertainment executive from New York City, has created a 2010 desk calendar with images taken at Fort Rucker.

The black and white spiral-bound calendar is a collection of some of Kristoff’s favorite images from around post. It includes photographs of a vintage airplane at the Army Aviation Museum; a soldier’s boots; a blackhawk helicopter at Lowe Field; a soldier’s salute of the flag; and a rattlesnake crossing sign near Lake Tholocco.

A portion of the proceeds from the calendar sales will be donated to TAPS.org, a 24/7 tragedy assistance resource for anyone who has suffered the loss of a military loved one. The calendar is available for $15 at http://www.poofny.etsy.com

EAT: “Craque” Is For Lovers

It goes by many names: White Trash, Puppy Chow, Muddy Buddies…but Montgomery, AL native, and current New Yorker, Freida Orange calls her version of this “very southern snack” Craque.


“For years now my sister Freida has been making a delicious treat for almost every special occasion,” says sister Maxine Orange. “... she takes it to parties, she gives it as gifts, la la la. So this year, she decided to package it up and sell it so you can give it to your friends and serve it at your parties! Her friends were calling it crack – I suppose because it is so addictive! To make it a little more catchy, (and because we are not crack-heads...) we've re-named it CRAQUE!”

So what is it?? Craque consists of bite-sized pieces of chocolate and peanut butter (Skippy, NOT the stuff that was recalled!) in crunchy shells covered in powdered sugar. It's delicious and, yes, addictive!!

Freida was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama where she still has a rather large and wonderful family. She has a degree in Journalism from The University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) in Athens. Freida moved to New York in 2000 and has had amazing experiences working in film and television since. She’s been making these delicious snacks for years and had been told numerous times she should package and sell them. She finally had time to do it during the 2008 holiday season and “Craque” has taken on a life of its own.

Freida peddles her “Craque” online on Etsy and at Bonsignour in NYC’s West Village. It’s the perfect fix for Valentine’s Day (which happens to be Freida’s b-day as well)!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

SHOP/SCENE: SALVAGING NEW ORLEANS VIA ART AND UPCYCLING

It’s October and with Halloween fast approaching my mind begins to wander to New Orleans. Blame it, perhaps, on Anne Rice and her vampire tales. Couple that with multiple pokes around a voodoo museum and, always, three knocks on the grave of Marie Laveau in St. Louis Cemetary #1. Three knocks, spin around, leave some tobacco, candy and a bright, shiny new copper penny….make your plea somewhere in between. Regardless, the damp murkiness of being below sea level makes the city dark, moody, and inherently gothic.

Brangelina and the fam were recently sited in NOLA causing the expected hubbub. Of course, the real stars are the locals who continually find and create new ways to reuse, rebuild and recycle. Sweet Tea is shouting a few out today:

The Green Project is dedicated to creative recycling and reuse in New Orleans. It operates a warehouse store, supports others who salvage or deconstruct damaged or collapsed buildings by hand, serves as a local recycled paint resource and recycling center, offers gardening workshops, has merged with Recycle For The Arts to provide art materials to various entities and offer monthly recycled art workshops. GP also has an event space called The Green Room that displays local art and is available for workshops and community event, and finally, The Green Project is involved in green building and special p roject like solar panels, biodiesel and community outreach.

Brooklyn invitation designer MacKenzie Sala recently added a “New Orleans” design to her Kenzie Kate Invitations line. Ten percent of proceeds from the New Orleans go to the Green Project!

On a smaller scale, a bunch of Etsy shops are also using salvaged materials to create a variety of projects to preserve New Orleans’ architectural details and to raise money to help with the city’s ongoing rebuild and rebirth:

Rebirth Frames are constructed mainly from the siding and door and door frames of homes in and around the New Orleans area that have been leveled, destroyed or are being rebuilt. Ten percent of all proceeds will be sent to Habitat For Humanity.

Second Line Frames are built from authentic wood siding salvaged from homes destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. It’s their way of preserving a little part of the beloved memory of old New Orleans while helping to rebuild it toward a better tomorrow. A portion of each sale goes to assist in the rehabilitation of affected neighborhoods. The Second Line is a timeless New Orleans tradition – the colorful parade that follows a funeral procession to turn tragedy into a celebration of rebirth.

Bayou Salvage says: Never underestimate the power of debris to change your life. Kerry is an artist/educator who has at times has been a filmmaker, art director, costumer, prop stylist, and picker for antique shops in the New Orleans area. She has been reworking vintage and thrifting for 25 years. As of Friday, August 22, Kerry’s customers have raised $205.00 for the Make It Right foundation and rebuilding homes in the lower 9th Ward, New Orleans by purchasing her tree ornaments made from torn down homes in the 9th ward & shotgun houses.

The woman behind Nola Salvage is a full-time carpenter, helping to rebuild New Orleans, one house at a time. On her days off she enjoys making art, and small sculptures out of salvaged materials. “Part of loving New Orleans is loving its architecture and signature shotgun houses. Another part of my lifestyle is the abundance of debris, I keep finding interesting bits of metal and beautiful old wood that I don't want to throw away. These wall sculptures are a result of my love for art and junk!”

GONE FISHIN' - BE BACK MONDAY!

SCENE: Carolina Craft Attack

DIYers in NC are keeping the Tar Heel State’s long tradition of craft and design fresh, modern and innovative from the relative new(ish)comer Spoonflower, which gives folks an easy way to design and print their own fabric on demand, to the team of Etsy-iers who are hocking their wares both online daily and THIS WEEKEND in person at:

Carolina Craft Attack - Saturday, Oct 11 - 9:30AM – 5PM (rain or shine) @

Independence Neighborhood Park - 300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte NC

“Traditional craft has been at the center of North Carolina life for centuries, whether made by Native Americans, Scots-Irish immigrants, enthusiasts who 'rediscovered' crafts in the last century, or contemporary artisans who celebrate both form and function in endlessly creative ways. Today, craft is a $538 million creative industry in North Carolina, practiced by more than 6,000 craft artisans working in clay, glass, metals, fibers, wood and other disciplines. It is a living tradition, constantly reinventing itself, and constantly inviting you to participate through visiting, viewing or even making crafts of your own.” (source)

Whether you want browse, buy or actually learn for yourself, ops to score your fix abound in every corner of the state:

Penland School of Crafts in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Mint Museum of Craft & Design in Charlotte
Southern Highland Craft Guild in Asheville
John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown
Qualla Open Air Indian Market in Cherokee

Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University

Or you can blaze a new trail with HomegrownHandmade’s alliance between arts and agriculture.

GONE FISHIN' - BE BACK MONDAY!

In the meantime, please visit Poof NY for some fab photo finds!

ART: "She Smiles"

Printmaking and collage converge in this piece by Louisiana artist Kathyrn Hunter. She offers "fine printed goods made with care in Bayou Country since 2003" on her site and in her Etsy shop.

ART: Cotton

You can buy this lovely print at www.poofny.etsy.com