We all remember decorating our teenage bedroom with posters and pages torn from magazines. Maybe you still enjoy collaging, or making a vision board for a hobby. Maybe now, instead of boy bands, you collect antique prints. I stumbled upon this site, and it struck me that this collection of public domain advertising […]
Sticky Situation: Make your own washi tape from upcycled labels
How to make your own decorative tape and stickers from museum tickets and e-commerce shipping labels Cleaning up my office/studio recently, I found the ticket stubs from my last visit to the Cooper-Hewitt design museum in New York. I remembered I had kept them to use the ticket info to access the exhibit info I saved […]
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A manifesta for 61 (#reclaimingmylines)
Resolved to: give 0 damns. Gina Barreca is a treasured comic, writer, and revered crone here in Connecticut. Her recent column on turning 61 was not a gift wishlist, but a list of what she hopes to KonMari the hell out of her mindset, and the values she wants to focus on now now that […]
Exhibit: Shaker design featured in Paris and New Britain
bur bowtie (c) Allie McConnell, photographed at Canterbury Shaker Village, Vermont Today brings the opening of Li Edelkoort's art gallery in Paris. Edelkoort is the founder of Trend Union, a highly influential trend forecasting company. She herself is a significant proponent of artisans, textile craft, and sustainable fashion production. The first exhibition at Edelkoort […]
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Plan your bliss: effective goals and intentions for change
The dark of our long New England winter is the perfect time to clear what no longer serves us well, and to listen to our heart as we set our goals and aspirations. Here are a few of our recommendations for journals, workbooks, or paper agendas for you to put pen to paper with your […]
White Sails: how to get affordable, stylish window curtains
January is traditionally the season for white sales, when retailers mark down their stock of home textiles: bedding, linens, pillows, towels. I wanted to share with you my affordable solution for curtains that takes inspiration from a different kind of sail. I’m really happy with how it turned out, aside from the relief of not having […]
#ClothisCulture: Afghan war rugs exhibit in New London
The Lyman Allyn Museum in New London, CT is hosting an exhibit of Afghan war rugs this spring. Through decades of invasion, occupation, and internal oppression, Afghan women within the country and displaced in refugee camps elsewhere have modernized the images they depict through their traditionally crafted rugs for commercial sale. Maps, weapons, army tanks, and portraits […]
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January 7 is Distaff Day
The party's over. No more three-day weekends, it's time to get back to work. In European countries, on the day after Epiphany, women would get back to work with their wintertime occupation: spinning fiber into yarn using a distaff. It became known as Distaff Day. A woman possessed? Apparently letting an unfortunate fella have it […]
What’s it to me? Fair Trade Month
Solidarity Center For 2 years, I worked as a social work case manager, helping newly arrived refugees and survivors of human trafficking adjust to their new lives in the U.S. On a regular basis, my co-workers and I would discuss our work, new issues that came up with clients, new things we learned, but always circling […]
What is Fair Trade Certified?
Oliberte Fair trade is the market-based answer to charity. Instead of perpetuating the charity cycle, which just creates dependency on handouts, fair trade principles ensure that farmers get a fair price for their harvest, based on the market, i.e. supply and demand. Trading is done directly, without a middleman, which would otherwise take a chunk out of the […]