Bling on the Blingage

Needless to say, I've been away from the blogosphere for a long time. Last December, I packed my bags for a 5 (that turned to 8) week holiday to Cebu. When I'm home, I put my blog breaks on and use all the time to spend with loved ones and get some me time. Online time is limited to work emails and instant messages on Twitter, Facebook, and Skype. 

Before going on holiday, I normally have froulala tableaus 

to help me pack wisely and organize wardrobe essentials for the trip. 

I love mixing hi and lo for a gypset style with trinkets 

I've collected over the years.

Basic colors red, black and gold come to glam life 
when expressed in different materials and textures such as

corals, onyx, feathers, shells, shagreen, 
braiding, knits, and embroidery.

The babouches are an old purchase from 
a Casablanca souk 11 years ago

and the military vest is from 
Marche aux puces de la Porte de Vanves

 Still channeling more gold and mixing old and new

into my holiday wardrobe,

I made a ball and chains bracelet to go with

the traditional Philippine tambourine necklace 

laid on exquisite piña fabric.

Piña is a pineapple fiber made from 

the leaves of a pineapple plant.

It is combined with silk to create fabric. 

Staying close to cultural roots keep me grounded.

Sticks and Stones may break my bones but  

layers upon layers of Color and Gemstones 

will never hurt me.

Inspired by the colors and textures of exotic travels 

and smells of not too distant lands.

  This Decodent necklace made with 

jade, coral, and rhinestone balls was inspired by 

a Shanghainese art deco vibe (hence the name).

It was the perfect accessory for 

an impromptu trip to Singapore

during Chinese New Year.

This Hip-Hop necklace with galenas dipped in gold and silver was inspired by talks on gold futures. I wanted to add a dash of Midas touch when we debuted in High Point last Fall.

It goes well with both my silver and gold pieces whether 

I'm wearing a black dress or just a plain white tee and jeans.

I think it looks rather fierce juxtaposed against one of my favorite vodka brands, Crystal Head Vodka . Alex bought it for me on one random trip to ABC knowing I would like the bottle. I liked it even better when I read that it is filtered over diamonds and has no  artificial additives. "Quadruple distilled and filtered three times through charcoal followed by triple filtration over Herkimer Diamonds, Crystal Head Vodka is exquisitely packaged in a skull bottle crafted by master artisans at Milan's Bruni Glass Company. This "pure spirit" is produced in Newfoundland, Canada, without any artificial additives such as glycol, citrus, or sugar."

Organizing these wardrobe tableaus start when I put on my almost everyday uniform of yoga wear on mornings when I'm not rushing about. I pick through my accessory pile and set them aside. When I need a break from office work and selling furniture, I create in other ways and BLING it on! Christine from On a String bead shop in Myers Park helps me fasten my ideas together with her deft hands. She also has a fabulous selection of beads which I incorporate with my collection.

 

Christmas Wishes

 

It feels like Christmas came knocking too soon. 

I got to Cebu 9 days ago and have been channeling the holiday spirit with traditions that I grew up with. One of them is the  9-day dawn mass called Simbang Gabi. I've also been hitting the social scene quite heavily which has caused my missing 4 of those 9 days. Gliceria, my late grandmother, wouldn't have approved but she didn't christen me her ambassadress of goodwill for nothing. 

I also came home to a lovely birthday surprise. 

 They grandly heralded my 35th birthday. 

 I am overwhelmed
by the sweetness and warmth from family and friends.

 

 They are the precious gems of my life

 and my lucky charms.

 From our home to yours,

May your Christmas be laced with 

love, warmth, peace, and good tidings!

All photos from Christies

picture 1: broche art deco "marteau" emeraudes, email et diamants, par van cleef & arpels

picture 2: a collection of five colored glass witch's balls, 19th century

picture 3: a silver, gold and multi-gem (coral, malachite,rock crystal)"christmas box", by cartier

picture 4: gillespie's syndrom, arman

picture 5: emerald and diamond art deco ring

picture 6: emerald and diamond ear pendants

picture 7: antique bloodstone, diamond and enamel bonbonniere

The following photos have been in my archives for awhile. I took them in West Palm Beach and Miami last Christmas but it was Mrs. Limestone's frings that reminded me of the swans.

 Delano Hotel Lobby

 

 Objects in the Loft

DIY awesomeness-Mrs. Limestone's Frings

 

 

photo from Christie's 

One of my best friends, Marylou Ang, sent our family this wonderful Christmas DVD by Andrea Bocelli and David Foster. It has been on repeat for most of the day, definitely a must add to your library.

Social Media Diary 1 Year 1:The Beginning

In yesterday's blog post, I talked about living a quiet life and relishing only knowing a few people in my immediate physical circle. Moving to a new place and finding friends or social circles is not difficult but finding a connection with people does not happen often enough.   After all, cultivating a friendship takes time and gradual seed planting in varying degrees. Then...there was Twitter and I find myself popping in and out several times a day and enjoying the conversation and engaging with a like minded community. Soon enough, it started growing and is pleasantly encroaching on my real life. I was part of a Social Media panel in High Point University as a startup furniture manufacturer last April 2010 and was asked the perennial question, how much business have you gained from being on Social Media? We didn't launch SNUG yet so I couldn't answer that in a quantifiable amount. Most of the concerns are profit and bottom line, time, and who cares about what I'm doing?  All valid. After all, we are in business to achieve our goals and this is just one of the ways to communicate with the world and hopefully get there while having fun. Almost everyone spends a lot of time online these days and if we want to get our message out, this is just one of the ways. Tom Peters has a term for it, "the little big things".  Every little thing counts. I will share some thoughts on this towards the end of the series. My story is personal. I am not saying social media should be used in this manner but this is how I am engaging in it.  People ask, what do I say? Just be yourself and observe  proper conversation etiquette the way you do in real life and the rest will follow. At the panel,  I gave them a brief summary of the people I met so far and continue to communicate with and the wonderful experiences as a newbie to show its organic and viral nature. My personal and professional resource base has definitely expanded. I know more than I did a year ago. Is it useful information? It depends on how you use it. 

My first tweetup was in June 2009 with Charlotte locals and interior designers, @WandaSHorton of Interior Concepts by Wanda and @StarrMiller  of Starr Miller Interior Design. Since then, we've attended a few local events and meetings and Wanda and I have collaborated on a tabletop event last March 2010 that Starr invited her to be a part.  Please see photos below of the tabletop Wanda designed based on her Midsummer's Night Dream inspiration. I was thrilled that she used SNUG's Cocoon Chair, incorporating a contemporary organic chair into her elegant and gorgeous traditional setting. It was a chance for me to get a reaction from direct consumers and other designers about our chair pre launch. You can see Wanda's heartwarming post here. I am happy to say that Wanda and I have truly developed a friendship and we just did another tabletop event together a month ago! (more on this later)

first tweetup at The Tea House

Roger Horton, Roger's sister, Davetta Moore, Wanda Horton

I was in New York for two weeks last summer and tweeted up with @abcddesigns  (Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo) at 71 Irving Place Coffee and Tea Bar and @irwinfelddesign (Marcy Feld) at Isabella's. Sometimes, when you like the energy of a person online, you can bring it to the next level by meeting them in person especially when you find yourselves #just140it-ing all your exchanges too much. This is what happened with both ladies. I've long admired Amy's maximalist view on life despite her recent travails, find her bespoke stationery designs clever, and have tried and tested some of her family recipes before meeting her. By the time we finished sipping our coffee, she had convinced me to blog and when I did, she sent me ten blog header designs to choose from as a blogwarming gift! So overwhelmingly sweet!!!  It was so hard to choose which one, check them out! 

So are you FrouLaLaed  to death? Cause I was, in a massively good way!! Soon right after, one of my best girlfriends from the Philippines based in Dubai was asking on Facebook if I had any ideas for her wedding invitations. Of course, the first person that came to mind was Amy and so I introduced them via Facebook and through time zones and internet cables, they came up with these beautiful invites perfect for an island paradise wedding. You can see Amy's post on it here. 

I will end today's post with ABCD's inspirational and artistic handiwork. Tomorrow, I will tell you more about Marcy Feld---our beautiful friendship and their museum like midcentury modern gallery, Irwin Feld Design. 

BiOHpolyols Project UDesign: A Soy Love Alifair

 

BiOHpolyols ' Project UDesign, is a contest, in collaboration with the Savannah College of Art and Design (@SCADdotedu), Century Furniture, and Toray Ultrasuede to crowdsource "the next generation sustainable wing chair."

Important dates for voting 

(All voting is only online at http://facebook.com/BiOHFans)

There are currently 6 designs and 5 semi-finalist students. Between now and Oct. 3rd at 11: 59 pm, all can vote for the 3 finalists. They will be selected only  by those who vote online and the 3 finalists will be announced on Monday, Oct. 4th on  www.facebook.com/BiOHFans

The voting for the three finalists announced on Oct. 4th will end at 11: 59pm , Tuesday, Oct. 19th and that person who has the most votes will win. The winner will be chosen only by online votes and none of the partners or related parties have any say so in the winner. It is completely the public's choice.

The winner will be announced at High Point Market on Wednesday, Oct. 20th in the Century Courtyard at the start of  Withit's  student mentoring day-approx. 9:15 am.

 

What's in it for the Winner?

1. $1000 from BiOH immediately
2. Their winning design will be produced and put into Century's regular line up for intro at the Spring 2011 High Point Market
3. The winning student will be paid royalties by Century on all sales of their winning chair once it's produced.
4. A lot of publicity!
 

The Alifair Chair by Ryland Quillen

"I thought about the concept of a wing chair, the wings providing comfort and a sense of enclosure. I realized, however, that if the wings are too imposing, they can block vision to the right and left when sitting in the chair. To cope with this, I decided to employ cut offs, creating a window large enough to see to either side when sitting. The gently swooping curve on either side suggests  the feeling of warmth and comfort without hindering sight.

Alifair is shown here upholstered in Charcoal Ultrasuede with contrasting Black Onyx piping and in Kagan Red Ultrasuede. The legs on the chair are tapered and shown in dark mahogany. Alifair will utilize Cargill's environmentally conscious BiOH foam." 

I have been off the blogosphere for many good reasons which I will explain in the next blog post but I was too excited about this project that I couldn't let it pass. First of all, as a furniture manufacturer and designer for SNUG , we Soy Love our BiOH and believe that sustainable design can be beautiful, contrary to what many people think. Some of you may wonder why I'm blogging about Century Furniture when I represent SNUG. I firmly believe that as manufacturers, distributors,  retailers, designers, and consumers, it is our responsibility to use and specify sustainable resources for our quality furniture and home accessories. By sharing and coming together, the opportunity to have a major impact in the reduction of oil used and energy saved is huge. For every 1 million pounds of BiOH's soy polyol ingredient sold to the major foam manufacturers, 84,000 barrels of petroleum are saved. 

I won't bore you any further with statistics....So how did I get to picking this particular one? It's no secret that I'm a furniture girl at heart and the cut out wings immediately resonated with me in 5 seconds. I looked at the others and went back to this one in a heartbeat .  As they say, don't overthink it. The designer, Ryland Quillen's, words "the wings providing comfort and a sense of enclosure" and "the gently swooping curves suggesting warmth and comfort" screamed snuglicious!

Here's how I've created a Frou La La tableau with my favorite things using sustainable resources (natural, recycled, repurposed, biodegradable, energy efficient) without looking granola.  Please click on image to enlarge.

clockwise from top left: Alifair wings with the Ultrasuede  black onyx contrast piping | a postcard from one of my European trips as inspiration (Uptown, 1968 by Richard Lindner - the original is in Neue Museum in Nurnberg) | set of 4 1970s glass rod and chrome pendant lights (orig. USA) with adjustable cords for accent and illumination from Irwin Feld Design   | a Stuart Weitzman ad which also serves as an inspirational sweet edgy image | Alifair Wing Chair in Ultrasuede charcoal by Ryland Quillen (shoutout to vote!) | pugella diamond tuft sofa, tattoo cocktail table and link end table by SNUG  |  salvaged solid American white oak top with  steel and cast iron base by AT-95  | undyed, 100% unprocessed Tibetan wool by Inigo Elizalde Rugs  | LED stardust floor pillow glow-in-the-dark red by Mario Bellini from Moss  | Jil Sander sandals (as some of you know, I have to inject a solemate into my interiors) | Alifair Wing Chair in Ultrasuede Kagan Red | jet stream cowhide leather wallpaper in mint, teal, rita, azalea, platinum by Kyle Bunting | 1970s lucite and resin gazelle head from Irwin Feld Design 

Key Links to Remember

BiOH's blog: http://experiencebioh.com

Site for voting: http://facebook.com/BiOHFans

Site for watching the videos of the students: http://youtube/com/user/BiOHpolyols

Online voters will choose  the first sustainable wing chair to be crowdsourced  and produced 
(once winner is chosen) in the history of the furniture industry. What are you waiting for? VOTE NOW!