Crushing on Color

I'm adoring the new issue of Martha Stewart Living for May, all about finding the "hue for you."  I write about pink a lot and sometimes purple, and love the palate of both with cream.  It got me thinking about shades, flavors and textures, for example:

A Pink Marc de Champagne truffle from Charbonnel et Walker, a gift my boyfriend brought me from London a few years ago,

lights at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in the Lower East Side,

water kimchi at Bibim-Bar in the East Village.  We weren't sure what it was when we had it a while back, but loved the color (and the taste),

mix for macaroons that reminded me of wampum: beads made from shells highly prized if they were rare purple,

nail art done in Korea with O.P.I. polish in Hawaiian Orchid, so pearly it reminded me of a pink seashell,

and this pic from last spring on Hudson Street.

Pink and purple together can make a gorgeous sunset,

and then it's just a tiny step away to blue, like these hyndrangeas for my Mom's birthday

and at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco.

And in more macaroons.

I've always loved water, and each ball in this display was filled with it at the Dining by Design tabletop event for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids).

At another event, Zaha Hadid's mobile art installation for Chanel emanated a futuristic blue glow,

and back at Angel Orensanz Foundation, this is their starry ceiling.

Hmmm...I see another blog redesign in my near future.

What's your favorite hue and do you love it alone, or mixed into a palette?

2nd Christmas, Late Valentine's and Other Celebrations

It was almost like 2nd Christmas yesterday as we celebrated 3 birthdays, an anniversary and I brought some late Valentine's Day gifts too.  And this after the start of the Olympics, President's Day, Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras!

I had to wrap up the heart soaps I made, so I made a few miniature gift bags from a Martha Stewart pattern. 

And I wanted to be purple for the day, so I wore this beaded tank from Forever 21

and some light purple jewelry: this beautiful beaded necklace from Cameo Sisters Designs and ring from a trip to Chicago

My Dad had bought my Mom some little purple glasses

and I brought purple wine (and yea, my grandfather likes the box stuff )

And of course there were presents!

I got this gorgeous lilac Le Creuset casserole dish for my Aunt Liz.

[from Yummery]

On the Yummery site, Erin from Erin Cooks explains that this color was only recently made available in the US and right now Sur La Table has the exclusive on the lilac and the darker purple cassis colors, fab!

The other day I mentioned a gift that made me think of pink, pearl and ribbon and that was this Lion Brand knit flapper cloche for my grandfathers wife, Ruth.

Instead of the Landscapes Yarn in the pattern a very helpful woman in the shop recommended the yarn on sale this month: Wool-Ease Thick and Quick.  It's a lamb' s wool/acrylic blend, also a Super Bulky weight and surprisingly soft: it knit up in about 5 hours, so yes (relatively), quickly!  

I say pearl because at some point the shape reminded me of Pearl, the pink octopus in Finding Nemo.  It was even able to stand up on its own!  Let's compare:

[from freewebs.com]

Actually, this would probably make a pretty good amigurumi.  Eventually I got to the end of the knitting part and was all proud, until I realized that I hadn't joined the round.  Oops...

It was sewn up quickly, just ironic since I was already using circular needles, so why didn't I think of that before?  But it turned out fine and then I added this cool 2-tone pink/blue ribbon from Paper Presentation.

It was a good, relaxing day.  And I love that my Mom always has flowers around the house.  Maybe someday i'll learn how to keep a plant alive.

Pretty in Pink in February (with a little purple)

February's in 7 1/2 hour and I'm ready: you may have noticed I like pink.  This may be the only month when I can be totally pinked out and it might not be so noticeable, what with Valentine's Day in the air. 

[sweater by J. Crew a few years ago,

I have a beautiful satin sash that goes with it, not pictured]

[iPod mini (Apple no longer sells this model),
Blackberry Curve (not sure if the pink one is still available,
but they've recently introduced a purple, nice!,

Sony Cyber-shot DSCW80 w/sparkles from Korea, but also no longer available, boxes from Kate's Paperie]

[slippers by Dearfoams]

[knit heart pattern from Martha Stewart Living]

[bag and cashmere scarf from Mulberry]

[pyjama set and ($2.50!) camisoles from Forever 21]

[essie, O.P.I. and pa nail collective polishes (I've also been experimenting with nail jewels, but can't blog about it until my skills improve), Timex clock]

[macaroons from the Preston Bailey party]

[Valentine's Day m&m's]

Wishing you a very pink February!

Words from the Wise

One of the events I worked on during this busy week was a party for event designer Preston Bailey's book Celebrations: Lush Flowers, Opulent Tables, Dramatic Spaces, and Other Inspirations for Entertaining.

To walk into a Preston Bailey event is to be jaw-droppingly inspired and I'm so impressed with his vision and the hard work it takes to bring it to life.  I love that he can create environments with so many different materials: flowers, lighting, fabrics, beading, even paper.  Us crafters out there would be interested in his chapter on "The Art of the Details", in which he uses yarn, felt, paper and ribbon to create centerpieces, placemats, table runners and party favors:

"From floral chair backs to daisy cupcake place mats of woven ribbon, paper brought an exquisite level of texture and beauty to the table while still being functional and affordable, and prompted me to look for other similarly affordable and versatile elements".

Very cool advice from the man who is given free rein on lavish, budget-is-no-object events for everyone from Oprah to royal families around the globe and proof that (and maybe even especially in these times), creativity doesn't have to cost a fortune.