Singularly Lovely

I read Vogue magazine every month. I like to get my fashion mixed with a bit of substance.

I read Vogue magazine every month. I like to get my fashion mixed with a bit of substance. Yes, I am the dork that reads their well-written articles. (W Magazine is also on my bedside table.)

I came across this short piece about crystal necklaces in the recent issue. They were featured in a runway show this season. I got a bit of a rush to find something we sell at our store featured in Vogue.

STUFF sells Swarovski crystal necklaces, earrings and bracelets. We work with a designer in Berlin, Germany. They have been a STUFF staple for many years. The single strand – like you see in this image – is one of our most popular.

Vogue 2013 View Article I added one to my personal collection a few years back, and find that I wear it more often than I believed I would. One of my favorite ways is to throw it on with casual T-shirts and skirts. It takes my weekend run-about wardrobe to a new level. And, if I find myself invited to last minute afternoon drinks, I am dressed.

I loved seeing them featured in Vogue. I felt so fashionable and current.

Casey

Vogue Quote Sept 2013

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Instagram #1

I am totally hooked on Instagram. I am a visual person. I guess that is pretty obvious to anyone who has been to STUFF or has ever met me. So, I believe Instagram was made for…

I am totally hooked on Instagram. I am a visual person. I guess that is pretty obvious to anyone who has been to STUFF or has ever met me. So, I believe Instagram was made for ME. And all my visual friends…which is pretty much everyone I know.

Earlier today I was experiencing the Friday blahs, and I thought, “I don’t feel like working. I just want to sit around and play with Instagram.” Here is where the big fat idea bulb went off….

Commissioned art piece by Lori Buntin for STUFF.

This is my first Instagram image blog. I have this ingenius plan to post them anytime I feel like being inspired at my own store. Enjoy.

April Wallace little painting.
Amy Meya Sculpture
Cabin Vase Collection
Dash & Albert rug samples.

Casey

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Twice

When you tear out TWO pages from the SAME magazine for an item you like, should it go to the top of your wish list?

When you tear out TWO pages from the SAME magazine for an item you like, should it go to the top of your wish list?

The tempting piece.

 

Elle Decor magazine page 30.
Elle Decor magazine page 58.

What was humorous to me was that I was going to write a blog about seeing this lovely piece in more than one magazine in the same month, when I realized that I had pulled it from the same magazine twice.

It doesn’t make it any less lovely or deserving. I think Elle Decor was right on target with the double billing. Maybe it means I need two?

Casey

 

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Sophistication

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo Da Vinci

This quote is on my bulletin board above my desk. I read it almost every day. On a trip to Atlanta recently, I was finally reading my magazines from November. I saw this ad and immediately thought of the quote.

This photo reminds me of Richard Avedon’s work. It is simply classic.

 

Casey

 

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Soap Box and a High Horse

I have been trying not to get on my soap box for over a week. Besides, I can start to sound like a zealot when I get  too focused. Not anyone’s best trait.

I’ve spent 15 years building a business with my sister that – at its core – is dedicated to hand-crafted items by local artists. When we started, we didn’t allow people to take photographs of pieces in the store, because we were so overly protective of the artists and their labors. We had convinced ourselves that anyone wanting a picture was just being devious and was going to run home to their studio – where they hadn’t had a fresh idea in months – and incorporate someone else’s talent into their work.

Then the advent of the internet hit, and we loosened our collars. We let photos and uploads happen right on the floor of our store while we watched. We argued with ourselves that sharing artistic endeavors and ideas is good and that we would all rise from the swell of creativity.

At the same time, we watched friends have their ideas lifted and twisted into art by someone else. We sat dumbfounded as a friend in the design trade had whole designs for his furniture “stolen” by a large company and manufactured without a “how do you do” to the parent.

Nine years ago, I stopped shopping at Walmart because I had watched it wreak havoc in small towns all around Missouri. I had seen bucolic towns decimated by a lack of trade on their Main Streets. I also watched as that massive company signed licensing deals with small companies and, when the party was over, leave that company stripped bare of its ability to do business on a smaller scale for many reasons.

Over 3 years ago, I stopped going to Target for not quite the same reasons. Although they embrace design and the artist’s touch, they also bastardize all that is good about hand craft. They have made it their business to push American artists into licensing deals that insist on overseas production.

We must all be wary of these large companies that continue to ruin what is great about hand-crafted work. I think purchasing handmade items is essential. You can see and feel the artist’s “touch”. You can carry home the great feeling that you made a difference in the life of an artist by buying their work. You can rest assured that you are continuing to fortify the experience of making a living while making things with your hands and your mind.

I have two friends, Patricia Shackelford and Shelly DeMotte Kramer, that I follow on Facebook and  their personal blogs, and in the past month they both posted concerns – either that they authored or shared in the ether –  in and around this very issue. You can see the articles they featured here and here. After reading them, I knew I wasn’t alone in my battle and in my beliefs. I felt my blood rise. I felt my ire beating in my veins.

I felt myself getting ready to jump on my high horse. But for all the right reasons.

Sloane

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Copyright Casey Simmons and S. Sloane Simmons. People who steal other people's words & thoughts are asshats. Don't be an asshat.