2011 Recap

2011 was a year of ups and downs. In many ways it was a year of false starts - of great ideas that just never achieved lift off.  And some that did, but fizzled out all too quickly.  But there were also some wonderful moments . . . and progression often happens through the many small individual moments, that may seem displaced and rare, but eventually all add up to something better.

          

There were fresh starts and new beginnings, weddings and newborns. There was also death and heartbreak, confusion and questioning. There was some travel, to familiar places and ones previously unexplored. New and old friends, people moving to the city and people leaving. Good things happened, but where it gave, something else was taken away. 2011 was the epitome of the ebb and flow of life, and its hard to say whether the positive outweighed the negative . . . thus 2011 was a year in neutral.  A transition year.  A year to preceed something better, something great.

Peeling Paint

There's something fascinating in these haunting interiors.  The peeling paint, the items left lying haphazardly around the room . . . beautiful and lonely all at once.

Dinner Party Decor

There's something about a welcoming table setting, the perfect atmosphere to share a meal, that is so seductive.  Low lighting, flowers and candles, fine linens and glasses . . . the table becomes a shrine at which people gather to celebrate and give thanks for wonderful food, friends and family. 

Without a doubt, my favorite Christmas tradition is my family's Christmas Eve dinner.  We break out the ornate glass goblets from my grandmother for wine and my mothers special Burmese flatware and white linen napkins embroidered with gold and silver. We set up a centerpiece with candles and pine branches, and fill serving platters with the same meal every year - salmon with lemon and dill sauce, rice pilaf, green beans with toasted almonds, and light flaky rolls. After dinner my grandfathers tea cups are filled with coffee, tea, or hot cider. Its the perfect celebration of past and present, of tradition and family. . .

Pretty Packaging

With the Holidays approaching, packaging and gift wrapping are on my mind . . . Look at these beautiful and creative ways that others have wrapped gifts!  The package itself is a gift . . . I love that idea and feel that it resonates with me and how I view the cards I make for Oyster. The entire process of receiving a present –  however large or small, pricey or inexpensive – is turned into a gift of its own because of the pleasure of receiving and opening something so beautiful.   Over the years I have experimented with different styles of gift wrapping, from fancy wrapping to newspaper, ribbon and twine, but haven’t yet experimented with using objects like the beautiful doilies or twigs and berries in some of these examples.  It’s giving me all sorts of ideas for ways to use the overflow of fabric and materials around my apartment . . .

Fabric Inspiration

Mood Fabrics

The above fabrics are inspiring me as I'm preparing to create the first pillows for Oyster. . . while my interior design aesthetic usually tends to be more natural and/or monochrome, there's something about having accessories like pillows in prints that really POP.  I love the idea of working within a color scheme, like the blue and white theme here, but using different fabrics, shades of blue, patterns and textures to create variety.  I'm picturing these fabrics also being used to revamp antique side chairs, ottomans or armchairs. . . .

From top:

Blue Classic Chenille

Azure Ikat

Luna Ikat

Indigo Damask

Inspirational Interiors #2

Photos of the Metropolitan Building, Long Island City, NY

Today's inspirational interior is also taken from photos of the Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, NY. The third floor is full of antiques, dark wood floors and furniture, brick walls and beautifully peeling paint. There are delicate gold accents and elegant chandeliers.  

The mood board derived from these photos sets delicate, faded antique items agains a brick wall with gold frames. Luxurious accents such as a marble bust and chandelier add a victorian feel while the flowers and light brighten the room.

Doleman Sleeves and Delicate Draping

Aren't these photos stunning? I love elegant silky or sheer tops in a simple design, that can be easily accessorized.  Wrap tops and dresses especially have a certain way of hanging at the neckline, loose and soft, that is so feminine. I believe that some of the most sophisticated clothing is not necessarily difficult in construction, but is easily "dressed up" and added to in order to be most versatile and wearable.  I've been draping and playing with fabric recently, coming up with a few designs that I'm very excited to share here and on my Etsy shop soon!  Stay tuned!

Inspirational Interiors #1

Photos of the Metropolitan Building, Long Island City, NY

While styling a photoshoot in the Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, NY, I took some photos of a few different areas of the interior. I love the variety of architecture within the building, from elegant to rustic. The second floor (pictured above) feels like an old colonial mansion, where cocktail parties would be held to the sound of violins, where women in floor length pastel dresses trimmed with lace danced with gentlemen in three piece suits.

Inspired by the photos, I created an mood board for a modern interior.  An antique whitewashed dresser with gold handles and an antique gold mirror are juxtaposed with a modern pastel zebra rug and printed ottoman. An antique inspired chair reupholstered in mint green adorned with playful pillows bring together the feel of old and new. The color palette of white, grey and mint green keeps an airy antiqued feel while a pop of yellow adds to its modernity.

Apartment Inspiration - Bookshelves

   
I was given a kindle recently, and while I find its slim design easy to keep with me in my purse wherever I go, and while it is very convenient for reading on the subway, it's just not the same as a book.  Yes, I can highlight things in the kindle, but I can't flip through the pages and see the notes I took, I can't feel the weight of the book in my hand, or easily see how many pages I've read as opposed to how much more of the book I have left. It's also strange to get used to only viewing one page at once, rather than a double page spread, as unimportant as that may sound.  Flipping back to something I read a few pages earlier becomes significantly harder.  I think it would be convenient for novels, that are only read once and then put up on a glorious shelf (like these!) to be displayed as some kind of trophy wall of books that have been conquered... but most of the books I read tend to be ones that I read over and over, that are useful, that I like to reference back to, and there's just no match for the physical book in that case. Or art books!  One day I will have a wall of books on art and design.... and these could never be captured on a kindle.

Giving Thanks

One of my favorite things about returning home for Thanksgiving is the bus ride from New York to Rhode Island.  Life moves so quickly here in the city, and it's become too easy to stay in constant motion, a state of perpetual exhaustion.  To enjoy four uninterrupted hours with nothing else to do but listen to my headphones and let my mind wander as I watch the world go by outside almost feels like a guilty pleasure.   Truthfully however, it is in those hours that I am able to come up with my best ideas, when music and landscape directs my thoughts, and I see and hear things in a way I am not able to when I am rushing around the city, my mind always 10 steps ahead of my feet.

This Thanksgiving was everything it should be, full of family, friends and good food.  I feel so grateful for all the amazing people who I am surrounded with, and am constantly overwhelmed by their generosity and kindness.  I am so appreciative of the time I've had this week to sit and think, to let my mind wander to places it doesn't explore in the city.  How can I recreate this feeling year-round?

The Philosophy Behind the Cards

Oyster Handmade Stitched Paper Greeting Card

There's something so special about sending and receiving snail mail, isn't there?  In this age of technology, where a message, tweet, or status update can be conveyed in an instant, its rare that we take the time to hand write a card and drop it in the mail, knowing it won't be received for days.  And when we receive a card, there's a lovely moment of anticipation and excitement when we open an envelope, not knowing exactly what we'll find. 

Now imagine if every time you opened an envelope, the card was so exquisite and visually pleasing that it was just as much of a gift as the thoughtful note inside.  Imagine the thrill and the joy of a beautiful message paired with an equally beautiful card!  If a message is so important, or has so much thought behind it that we (or someone else) has taken the time to write it out by hand and put a stamp on an envelope and mail it... doesn't that card deserve to be something that we keep, not just throw away the way that we do with so many easily forgettable and easily disposible Hallmark cards?

The Wonderful World of Oyster!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Oyster!  The idea for Oyster began as a small grain of sand, a constant thought in my brain that has been rolling around, and growing larger over time.

From the time I was a child, I have been involved in and interested in all kinds of art and design. At age 11, I started my own jewelry company and sold seaglass earings to a couple local stores in my hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. By 12, I had become obsessed with fashion design and interior design, drawing clothing and designing furniture, and rearranging my room twice a year, complete with floorplans of where each furniture item would go. In my free time I would draw, create sculptures out of found and recycled objects and collages from patterned paper and magazine clippings.