Love

When I turned on my computer I found this on my desktop. I think Jim left it there. I am looking at it as an early Valentine.

For the last 5 years, I've spent the weeks before Valentine's Day helping romantics find the perfect gift to express their love. And yet, I keep thinking though about how much love I've been feeling, (sometimes over-feeling) these days, love for all the little things: the small acts of kindness, shoulders I've leaned on, comments left and letters sent with great care, love received and parceled at just the right times and how thankful I am for any of it. How do I give something back?

So here I am declaring Valentine's Day the official Thanksgiving of Love. Let this Valentine's Day be about all of our friends who are there when you really need them. I am lucky...I have many many and more. I have so many Valentines. I am thinking of something special.

The Year of January

Time has gone by thickly this month. It feels like almost a year has passed since the New Year came. Has it? The world is a different place here for me and all my anticipation about what it might seem like without my dad was no preparation at all for what this feels like but I am trying hard to be back, trying hard to mix the move forward with good memories and less pain. Back to home and friends and new projects, back to a new collection to be designed (very late), back to filling orders, and back starting tomorrow to the new Brooklyn Flea, my first weekend of many--I am looking forward to seeing my old friends there and hopefully some of you. I am excited for Valentine's Day, being a lover of love in all it's incarnations and am working on project for a little group show to benefit relief work in Haiti just before.

That's how my dad would want it.

Lastly today, I want to tell you how appreciative I am of all your kind and comforting words over the last month. All your love and support from near and far helped me and my family so much more than you can know. Thank you. A few people have told me that that they actually booked tickets to see their loved ones--I say yes. Do it. Be present, linger in every moment.
love, deb

A Life

Nate Stein 1920-2010

Thank you so much for all your beautiful words of comfort last week while my dad was in the hospital. My father passed away on Friday as the sun was going down with all of us around him, holding both of his hands and each other. It's difficult to accept the loss of someone you had so much time to love here in this world, here that we know. Grieving is a shapeless process.

...it is not news that we live in a world
Where beauty is unexplainable
And suddenly ruined
And has its own routines. We are often far
From home in a dark town, and our griefs
Are difficult to translate into a language
Understood by others.

Charlie Smith
"The Meaning of Birds"

Heartbreak

dad and my big brother at emily's graduation last may

This is how I begin: This is the first time I've been home in 9 days. My father is very sick. My family and I have been with him in the hospital since last Monday night and we are holding out hope that he will pull through. He is old and fragile. While we hope big, we are feeling sad and confused also.

There is so much to this experience, every nuance of whatever this misshapen process is, carries pain and hope and ability, reflection and wishes and love and heartbreak, weakness and strength. We are feeling as many feelings as I think there are. We are taking it minute by minute right now, but sometimes we forget. I hope things will go back to normal soon, like my father would want for all of us. I miss you.

A New Year

I was just told last night that we are beginning a new decade. I never got that memo but the last day of any year is the time I usually get ready for a big do-over. I tell myself all the things I want to try to be this year and all the things I want to do and try. Where all that clarity comes from I don't know. Must be about ending and beginning all at the same time. Then the first day is filled with that hazy clearness of movement forward and doing a whole lot of fun nothing. Also Jim woke up this morning with hot pink lipstick all over his face. Luckily there is photo-proof I was wearing hot-pink lipstick last night and rose-colored (2010) glasses, which I plan to keep on all year.

That being said, wishing you all a happy magical year with big hugs and little (hotpink) kisses.

(magical photos by the unicorn diaries)

A Post-Christmas Wish

by Mike Mills

We are on our way to the doctor's office. We got sick just when it all started getting good, like days off and enjoying somethings or others. I guess you could say we have watched a lot of movies and old episodes of Arrested Development borrowed from my niece Emily. This morning we just felt sorry for ourselves and wished we didn't have to leave the house to go visit the doctor's office but whatever this thing is leaves us no choice. WE WANT OUR LIVES BACK. Here we go. Love you guys.

(three hours later we have the diagnosis: eat food to get our strength back, drink lots of water and electrolytes and get our lives back with immodium. And if we haven't seen Avatar go and see Avatar. After the immodium of course.)

Hi again

sums it up pretty well via oh lover

Been a bit out of it, in the swirl that has been the Gifted Market down in Soho. Or maybe it's Noho. Haven't gotten outside much but I know it's incredibly cold when I am out there. In the mornings there are big slushtastic puddles that turn into ice-rinks at night. But the people keep pouringthrough the door. I've met so many nice people, watched it snow from the inside out, and hopefully will have made many people happy with new shiny bonbons for the holidays. The artists, designers, vintage goods sellers and food purveyors (think amazing chocolate creations and homemade beer brewing kits) have outfitted me for Christmas, so this winter I have truly bought handmade and local all the way.

Today is my last day there. We'll pack up tonight and I can think about my Christmas eve menu! I'm not exactly sure what that exclamation point is doing there because I'm, to be honest, really tired. But rolling prosciutto around wilted escarole and baking pear tarts sounds pretty relaxing. And maybe drinking this with Jim all the while. How are you at this year's end?

Flutterbyes

I love:
maps:
garlands
&
butterflies

And then I won something so beautiful, from someone so beautiful, it gave me great pride to take these photos early this morning of the three things I love in one little (fantastically wrapped) package. Cindy from Quaint Handmade is starting a business: handmade garlands cut from gorgeous papers, carefully strung and so beautifully packaged, I let it sit for two days before I could even open it. She let me cvhoose which one I wanted and so for me I hardly had to think: yes butterflies cut from old maps. YES BUTTERFLIES!! Thank you Cindy!!!

p.s. I've extended my stay at the Gifted Market until Tuesday the 22nd so you have two extra days to visit me and find all kinds of great things from all kinds of great vendors...I may even bring my butterfly garland!
oxo

Gifted Moneyclip Mayhem

for your cheffor your cowboy

We are at Gifted in Manhattan until Sunday! Come and getcher moneyclips which seem to be flying like hotcakes (if hotcakes could fly). It's so much fun to see how people choose which ones to give.
"well, he really likes fishing but he's also kind of crabby?"
me: well, the crab is pretty good then huh?
"buuuut...he's also a pilot so the plane is perfect!"
me: "great!"
"hmmm..but you know what? I'm going to get him the pig because he is totally obsessed with cooking right now. And he's knd of messy. Yeah. The pig.

And so on. How are you this week before Christmas, my bunnies?

Best Gift Ever: Five Year Plan

Remember when I posted about this last month? Look how much it's grown! Jim and I are going to do it as a little gift to ourselves. Yoko Ono, one of the artists involved, posted about it on her blog, Imagine Peace! Go Aaron!

Not Going Wrong

click pics to link to ecookbooks!

Hard to go wrong with beautiful usable cookbooks or books about food, right? But I'm fiendish about cookbooks, in a "hoarders" kind of way. I always know the cookbooks I want and the ones I don't. It's one of the few things in life I'm really sure about it. I'd get any or all of these for others (but only because I really want them for myself--wow did I just say that out loud?).

(I guess just writing this reminds me to remind you to not forget about our Little Buddha Necklace which we hope will help to feed hungry New Yorkers this holiday season. For the next few weeks we're going to donate 50% of the proceeds from this sale to the Food Bank for New York City and offer you free shipping on this little guy...if you'd like, please help me spread the word!)

Monday Dose of Inspiration: Ideas for the Holidays

I thought making peace with polar bears would have been more difficult but maybe it's less dangerous and more obvious than I had previously thought. This is a very soothing idea for my tiiiiiny case of burn out. Wishing you gentleness and peace between all things this holiday season. I am inspired to say that kindness starts at home.

via acid cow

Holiday Spirit

lots of bonbons

the wild unknown

sesame letterpress

sovereign beck

porcelain skulls by beetle and flor

tamika rivera and patrick weder

The Gift Local sale at Flatbush Farm yesterday was a beautiful one. The light streaming in, the old bar and brick and ivory walls created a warm organic backdrop. The goods were so thoughtful, beautiful, sophisticated from handcarved walnut-wood rings, muslin scarves dyed with tea and saffron, porcelain skulls with 14K gold-glazed teeth to leather bags, and of course lovely jewelry ;) it was one of the prettiest sales of the year I think. I love the designers and artists that I have gotten to know over the years and new ones as well. So happy to have been able to show with them in this new setting. It was especially nice to see people coming out to see us instead of heading to the mall. Sweet Tamika, the event's organizer, says it best.

When Vanessa called me from the Gifted event (which is also quite nice and I'm back there today through next Sunday), I was on my fourth mulled cider with calvados and had just eaten a lunch of duck confit over lentils with frisee and organic sunnyside-up eggs.
Flatbush Farm is my new favorite place, hands down.

(Read here about the Brooklyn Rescue Mission which this event was created to benefit!)

Gift Local at Flatbush Farm

I will be (proudly) at the Flatbush Farm Gift Local event today while Vanessa will be holding down the fort at Gifted in Manhattan.

Click here to see what's on the menu at the farm!
In other news, I am awed at how fast people have found my new "pop-up shop" and just how much and how often we are working--nearing the holidays, these are the season's best sellers (below). Pretty romantic I'd say, as this is the time of year I get inside the minds of nervous "other halves". We'll have some of these at Gifted next week and a few today at Gift Local.

Sweet little gold dipped lockets and
charms , an old nickel with antique glass
and other assorted fun stuff.

and Happy Hannukah!

Taking a Moment (now with kittens)

It's been a busy month, some days too busy to take a breath. En route to the Post Office the other day, in a morning of lists a mile long, I turned up Oak Street and noticed a kitten. And then another. And then a swarm of kittens. The list fell away. There's always time for a swarm of curious baby kittens. Another 15 minutes and all of those would be mine. Thank you kittens. You know why.

We are here today

(beautiful) photo by Karen Mordechai

Surprise! What's a jewelry designer like me doing over on Sunday Suppers? Please be sure to check it out...something special brewing...

We are here in NYC at Gifted starting tomorrow through the 20th.

And proud to be here (while Vanessa (wo)man's the table over at Gifted!) at Flatbush Farm, a an event hosted by my wonderful friend Tamika Rivera on Saturday, the 12th created with the hopes to raise awareness and funds for the Brooklyn Rescue Mission.

Hope to see you at there if you can pop in and say hello. So many incredible artists and designers all in one place. I love this time of year because even though it is exhausting, I get so much out of these experiences, to be surrounded by so much talent. I always seem to make a few new friends, learn something new and meet so many wonderful customers and people who I might not get to, cloistered away as I normally am most of the year, in my the studio.

A big THANK YOU to you who came out this weekend to see us and left with so many goodies! We had a packed house and so much fun, (especially after Sandy started adding whiskey to the hot cider.) More on those as soon as I come up for air.
xox, deb

P.S. Thanks especially to P. who not only lit up the room with her smile (kind of like Mary Tyler Moore), but was so absolutely kind to donate in the name of Bonbon Oiseau to the Food Bank for New York City. I am speechless P. Really.

Today's the Day!

Hope you can join us!

I am

Here today. So cool that the sale made top billing on Refinery 29...please come!

Little Stories

"BREATHE"

"REMEMBER"

"CREATE"

"GO FORWARD"

"BE"

Once upon a time, I found an old Peruvian Milagro. It looked like a plump little torso, was made of tin and I really loved it. I wore it on a chain, way before I started designing jewelry and wore it not just because it was beautiful aesthetically, but because I thought it would protect me. I attached all kinds of meaning to it, that it would protect my heart (from breaking) and my health (which was fragile at the time) and make me stronger. It was my shield. It was my talisman. And everyone would stop me to figure out what it was and they'd smile because I guess it was kind of quirky. I would examine it all the time and finally tacked it on my wall so I could just look at it.

I found it in a little shop in Arizona and was told they were Milagros, or in English "little miracles". They're used throughout the Spanish speaking world as little visual prayers, to offer the wearer hope or protection, to carry their desires or intentions. Their meanings can be both literal and traditional. When I found more of the little vintage Peruvian pieces last year, I took them back to the studio and cast them in silver. We tried some different finishes, brushing the silver, oxidizing some and dipping some in 18k gold. It was a really wonderful process, focusing on these funny little powerful stories, and we talked about new meanings each time we picked them up. I decided to pair each with these little antique silver sequins I found in Paris to imbue each with a feeling of history and depth. Especially within the intensity and glare of the holiday season, I hope they will help to remember to keep breathing, remembering, creating, moving forward, or just to be for a few moments.

They'll premiere this weekend at my first markets and there are a few up already in my new little pop-up shop here. What stories do you see?

A Little Holiday Market

you are invited...

Sesame Letterpress

Therapy

Sovereign BeckHortensia Handmade

Toys by Patrick Weder

For the past three Decembers, I've thrown this little Studio Holiday Market Soirée to kick off the Bonbon Holiday season and celebrate our fabulous customers, friends and families. And then I invite some of my other favorite artists & designers so I can kick back and share a cocktail with them too. I love a chance for you to get to meet the designers and artists and create a new space in here. It becomes an intimate little market. I love it.

It is the "Night before Christmas" all through the house week here. We are excited for Sunday. The studio is getting a scrub down. The back of the house is gathering wine and chocolates, possibly a few new sparkles. Visions of sugar plums, the whole nine yards...We have a few new designers this time around and some of the old as well and a few additional surprises...

Sovereign Beck (silk, wool and cotton ties)
Hortensia Handmade (Alpaca Knits)
Therapy (organic essential oil blends, bath salts and candles)
Patrick Weder (hand-made toys!)
Sesame Letterpress (holiday cards, gift tags, coasters, calenders, notepads and more)
and more...

We'll have our annual raffle for the Food Bank for New York City filled with some of the above designers goodies as well and then some which I'll open to all next week! If you're in NYC, I so hope you'll pop by!~If you live very far away, I'll miss you but you know all of the above are available to you on-line, but please be sure to mix a little cocktail for the full experience while you shop.
oxdeb

OK--I realized something today

Photo: Danielle Levitt for New York Magazine

I am in a work frenzy. I am riding a wave of all work and very little play. Life's a little out of balance. It's not you, it's me. I haven't had too much time to find anything very interesting lately let alone to share it with you, my favorite dumplings ever...except this..I LOVE Todd Oldham and now I love him even more. His eloquence, openness and humor are like a drug for me. Just one article free'ed up some of the crust holding down my brain. I don't feel so cornered by one creative outlet. He just makes me feel very free to see what's next, to play while I work this month. Thank you Todd Oldham.

And, in the spirit of making stuff, my Cyber Monday sale is keeping the studio buzzing much louder than I had even expected--you should hear it! And thank you. The elves are really happy too so I'm extending it until 6pm tonight. Get in there babies! Forward to your loved ones so you can get what you want...and you know this sale not only goes for my vast ole' website but for my new pop-up shop as well!

(Don't forget it's only 5 days til my first event of the season and 6 until our Open Studio Holiday Soirée! Get in mah belly!)

Apparently

Some of my local doors and windows (these might possibly lead into my soul).
The holidays are fast comin' a knockin'.

It's Cyber Monday? I never got the memo but how about a 24 hour 30% off sale? Until 2pm tomorrow...Just type "I love me a Bonbon" in the subject line of your order and we're all over it...

Between getting ready for all the incredible events coming up, getting our newest production notes in order and wrapping all of our international orders (due out tomorrow) we are chickens running amok and the holidays are apparently here! Cyber Monday? Wow.

Homand Ready for Action

Hope lat week was wonderful for you all! Iowa was a whirlwind of seeing some great old friends and family with some shabu-shabu, some coconut cake and some turkey thrown in for good measure...

Back now and getting ready for some SUPAH HOLIDAY action...just added a new date at the Williamsburg studio of some of my favorite tie-makers, Sovereign Beck along with some other incredible designers and then of course our Annual Holiday Studio Soirée and Sale the very next day in which the guest list is growing, we're expecting a few surprise guests in addition to the above line-up and I am so excited...hope to see you at one or both...

bonbon's new pop-shop on big cartel

Save December 5th (there) and 6th (here) for me! Oh and please check out my newest little shop, set up to make holiday shopping super breezy for my far-away friends (and made with the encouragement of my talented pal Jamie...10Q).

Happy Thanksgivng from Iowa!

big heart

full bellies.
new " and coming soon...

I'm thankful for many things but especially thankful to all of you who come around these parts to see what's happening, with your feedback and love, you always give me so much joy throughout all the ups and downs of the year...hope you all have a lovely holiday.
love,
bonbon

Table Service

Nathalie Leté for Anthropologie

from anthropologie

i love this idea...antique silverware by the pound! From Napa Style
but I do need compote bowls! I do!

Laguiole steak knives from here

I imagine after the "first Thanksgiving", all those folks sat down to share a meal, and the chicks were wishing they had better tools than boat spikes to eat their oysters. After our dinner the other night we realized we had forgotten to ever acquire proper entertaining tools known to modern man as the "table service". We've collected many things over time but we never got smart things like real silverware and dessert plates. We don't even have a proper cake server. It was sad to serve the lovely desserts our guests brought, stilton and port and cheesecake and figs off of teacup saucers and paper napkins. Mom was right. It was like not having clean underwear at the hospital.

Now I have it in my head that I want cockle forks and salt cellars and berry spoons and fish forks. In the spirit of impending days of entertaining and large sit-down dinners, I will find time to give thanks. But today, I found some time to want. Who's with me?

The Morning After the Night Before

strange fruit

evidence of half of everything i drank

always throw orange flower water, figs and marcona almonds at the problem

thyme honey

Saturday. We made tagine (I am on an all things Moroccan kick again) for 5 incredible people Thursday night. No photos from the actual evening (too wound up and fun having) but the light Friday morning, made the wreckage look nice.

wild beasts waiting for the kill

And my neighbor brought these gorgeous anemones to dinner. I think she laced them with kumquats and sage herself. She is amazing. They set the stage for a day of photo taking though. I am nothing if not a total practicioner of utilitarian impulse--after this I used the light and flowers and kumquats (and cats) to photograph my holiday collection, better late than never. It will be going up on the site next week but first I procrastinate with pretty flowers and wild beasts.

Escape Plan

awesome vintage travel posters via ffffound

But I'm going to Iowa instead. I do love these though, back when flying was glamorous a la Mad Men. Also, I just read this post from this time last year and clearly had a much better handle on things than I do this year. Lessons learned and heeded.

Save these Dates! Bonbon Claus is Comin' to Town

First let me say, suddenly today means for me, the holidays are almost here. It is certain. And we have been elvishly been preparing for some of the most exciting holiday events we've done to date. Recession be damned, we'll have things for everyone, so I hope you can join us at one or all of these...but especially this one, where you can see where it all goes down, I can serve you a glass of wine and you can see EVERYTHING, (including the SS10 Collection and the new studio!):

*Sunday, December 6th, 2pm-6pm*

Bonbon Oiseau's Annual Holiday Soirée and Very Fun Sale
(and the first peak at our newly finished STUDIO!)
*The first 20 people will get a little Bonbon Giftbag, our first foray into silkscreening!!
along with Tamika from Therapy, Breck from Sesame Letterpress,
toys by Patrick Weder (& other surprise guests)
Shop early and funly, enjoy a little cocktail and of course join our annual raffle to benefit the food bank for new york city filled with a plethora of goodies and delights!

*Saturday December 12th, 12pm-6pm*

at the Flatbush Farm for Designers Giving Back

with a host of amazing artists & designers.
I'm proud to be part of this where a portion of our earnings will go to
the Brooklyn Rescue Mission
and will have some very special items not shown at the other sales...surprise!

*Wednesday-Sunday, 9th-13th*
&
Wednesday-Sunday 16th-20th
Two December weeks of Bonbon love in NYC at
Brooklyn Flea's Gifted
20 e. 4th St at Lafayette

I'll have all sorts of things for fat and thin wallets and of course our miraculous keyfobs and moneyclips which are the perfect antidote to what to get him or her (they really do transcend space and time).

Some scenes from some of our events last year:

Of course if you're nowhere near NY, look out next week when we'll have all sorts of new things up in the Bonbon Shop for the holidays and an offer of
15% off* through December 1oth on all web orders.
(Oh and if you have a blog and want to spread the word, just let me know and I'll give you an extra 5% for a total of 20% off!)
Your last day to get your orders in for Chanukah delivery is December 8th
and for Christmas delivery is the 17th!

*(bridal pieces, custom work and Icky not included...sorry!)

The Shnozberries Taste Like Shnozberries

The grocery section of Ikea. It's the section after you checkout and is only part that keeps Jim from putting real nasty voodoo spells on me. It makes us forget the shopping that preceded it.
The food shop is what I imagine the Stockholm airport to be like, after you get through the long lines and security checks, you get clean, clear colors and to the point graphics. You get fishy tubes of salmon and jars of citron herring. You get elderflower drinks and jams flavored like the flavors of love or cloudberries at least. I have no idea what a cloudberry is but I bought some anyway because please people, they're CLOUDBERRIES for christ's sake. Oh and the Anna's cookies...thin crispy gingery deliciousness--perfect for the holiday drop in when served with elderhjortonappledrÿk.
Thanks to Nadia for driving the point home that we should really stop and linger, even if it is mean old Ikea. Ünd we did.

Monday Dose of I: Sunday Suppers

photos by Karen Mordechai

Last week was a long week that turned into a longer weekend from Thursday night on: a bad cold that had me out flat. I was full of thera-flu and up for nothing except back to back movies.
Watched: Adventureland (loved it partially because it was based on the Adventureland in my hometown)
documentary about teaching apes to talk (yessss), Paperclips (see this), Away We Go (totally hit the spot), Apocolypse Now redux (perfect for when the theraflu kicked in) , The Visitor (je recommend), Annie (Yes that Annie and don't ask..it was a formative film for me), Mad Max (these two were back to back--it just sort of happened, another formative film..I know, I know). Plus old episodes of 30 Rock, Bored to Death, Larry David, and old Project Runway (in which I decided not to go there--too fierce), The Orange Housewives in which I decided life can be cruel, and I'm sure there was more. Don't remember. Foggy. Napped through some of it.

Missed: A day of work, Dinner with Jen, Going to see Where the Wild Things Are, Breakfast at Five Leaves (aka the clubhouse) with Ada (although a phone conversation was subbed), another cancellation on Jen (such a drag) and sad sad sadly, dinner with Marie and Vince and Storbie--ughhh.

But by Sunday, the rain stopped, the wind died down, my nose stopped running, and I was getting back to myself (albeit a little guilty and hungover from all the tv and cold meds and missing the chance to see my friends). But I had taken it so easy, weaned off the thera-flu that hardly a sniffle remained and by 3 pm Sunday, I was able to do something I'd been planning all month (but I want rainchecks for what I had to miss): Sunday Suppers.

From the beautiful table and decor and the friendly guests, to the sweet and warm and wildly talented Karen and Casey, who welcomed us like old friends, and skills learned (boil cippolinis to get them to peel easier-ohhhhh!) I was so absolutely blown away by the beauty of all of it. Inspired to say the least, and really, what an incredible way to emerge into the world. Can we plan another Sunday Supper for all of us? What an incredible place to meet and enjoy and it was so inspiring to see a project like this come to life and shared, so perfectly delicious and down-to-earth and just what the doctor ordered on a quiet and beautiful Sunday afternoon. More coming but the menu so far is here...

*Thank you Karen and Casey and Ken and your team of lovelies...and also my date, Rachel! and to my wonderful husband for all the soft tissues and chicken soup and taking care of me so I was well enough by Sunday at least not to miss this.

Thank you

Thank you. Thank you for all your sweet and caring responses to my Wild Things post. Thanks for getting it. On that note I am emerging from the thorny thickets and turning a crummy week of learning life lessons into a spectacular week of finding out how many people out there, like you, are kind and wonderful enough to care and think of me. I don't know what I'd do without you...

Maxine and The Last Fig

Actually the only fig. Maxine loves being up on the table amongst the clutter and fig (and fig related literature).


This was the same day we received these from Aran, the beautiful photos she'd taken when she was here this summer. I was speechless. Maxine shows her gratitude for such sweet friends differently (frantic licking). We're deciding on a wall for them but in the meantime they are part of a larger, stuff-filled tableau.