My Talented Friends and You

Long Mittens as worn by Bella in Twilight, at ruthcross.com

Talented Friend #1:
My very talented friend Ruth from Ruth Cross still has a pretty incredible sale going on and the shipping costs aren't bad! As the proud owner of quite a few of Ruth's delectably beautiful and über warm knits, (wearing her socks right now...well not her socks--well you know what I mean...) I am now coveting Ruth's Long Mittens...(which were worn by Bella in Twilight! Huzzah Ruth!!)

Lucero Knit Collar from hortensiahandmade.com and
Brooklyn Flea's Winter Pop-Up Market

Talented Friend #2: Michelle from Hortensia Handmade (I have pals that keep me warm while I keep them sparkling...) will be at the Brooklyn Flea's Winter Pop-Up Market* this weekend and next to keep you warm with big discounts (I have that same collar and might i say..I LOVE IT--she has a cult following in Brooklyn so I'm glad she's coming to Paris with me to get her French following in order!)...and if you're too far away to come to Brooklyn this weekend, have you seen her brand new etsy shop? Oh baby---you'll love me and hate me for it...

Stationary and other goodies by Vana of Le Papier Studio

Talented Friend #3: OH! And you only have 24 more hours to leave a comment for the sweetie Vana of Le Papier Studio and be entered into her $75 gift certificate give-away...her stationary and artworks are so so special, I'd just go to her shop, decide on what you want so you can wish yourself a win. Ends tomorrow January 31st...good luck!
Hope you like these Friday picks and they'll keep you warm and wishing (and distracted from work) for even a little while...
ox-me

* I'll be at Brooklyn Flea's Winter Pop-Up Market too---next weekend only Feb 7th & 8th! Details soon!

Notes from a Photo Session and a Workflow

My incredible husband and the stunning Tamika have given me a lot of work to do...Just a smattering from Sunday's shoot for the Fall Collection and my first edits--We worked in the Camellia House at the arboretum on Long Island, one of my favorite places...Tamika was such a joy to work with and I think Jim captured her beauty and the still winter light so beautifully.

Now comes the rest: I am completely self-taught when it comes to photo-editing (yes, I do all that stuff!) and I'm not sure I ever know what I'm doing...trying out Adobe Lightroom (does anyone use it?) and trying to get into a workflow that makes sense. I can't take my eyes off some of these and the raw files are incredible but I've already lost a lot turning them in jpgs...anyway, enough tech talk (I just think I'm so cool talkin' the talk like that...and we have a 'still' shooting session on Friday...(more opportunities to talk cool).

I think I better come back to these after a few hours to make the tough decisions: what becomes the postcard, what goes into the lookbooks, what becomes a poster, what should I trash, what did I trash that is probably the money shot (can I say that here?) etc etc....?
Any votes for a favorite? How do you manage your workflow?

Photography: Jim Knudsen
Model: Tamika
Styling: Me
Make-up: Vanessa Kinzer and Me

News from Urburbia...

Bonbon for Urban Outfitters...
front and back of hang-tag

one of the necklaces called "Little Moon"--it sort of fits in with the theme
of our Spring Collection as well which will be posted very shortly!

So while I edit photos from Sunday's shoot and get ready to post our own Bonbon Oiseau Spring Collection this week I have news I can't hold back any longer: It's a little surprise I've been keeping under wraps for a few months while we worked out the details but:

Bonbon Oiseau did a very special collaboration this season--ahem... I designed a Bonbon collection especially for Urban Outfitters Spring Season called "Oiselette"! It will be introduced this March in Urban Outfitters stores across the U.S. as well as on-line!

We just received the first samples last week and they look almost like the real thing which I'm pretty excited about...wooohooo!? Do you know how hard it was not to tell you guys all these months? VERY VERY HARD!

ooohhh! and I'm even more excited that it will be out in stores at the same time as Mrs. French's Urban collaboration!!! How cool is that?

Practice Resurrection II, For Molly

Last night, as I was sleeping,

I dreamt--marvellous error!--
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.
--Antonio Machado

Last year, one of my favorite people and bloggers, Molly from Little house in the Clouds wrote such a moving post (I'm not sure I ever told her this but) I printed it out and hung it above my desk, where I could read it all the time when I'm..uh...feeling. Visiting her blog when I can is always such a sigh of relief--I love to see what she's thinking--she has such a beautiful and honest way of expressing herself and her ideas about....human-ness...she always has something so special to share---makes me feel I'm not alone in dealing with my mistakes and foibles and even achievements, the chapters of being alive and and striving to be...decent.. or heard.

I often wish I could sit down with her, or visit her like I used to when she lived in NY and talk even for a few minutes...I think this Antonio Machado poem she added is so perfectly uh..perfect, I wanted to add it here to share it with you. Finally, you can read Molly's post here.

(Our photo-shoot happens this weekend--excerpts next week for sure!
Happy weekend lovelies!)

And More Bon Things...

Heart Handmade interviewed Jim!

Vana's Self-Portrait--Bonbon on the bust! How pretty!

We're having quite a run in the last week and a half..first thank you to the lovely Vana of Le Papier Studio for posting a picture of her bonbon in her self-portrait on Julia's beautiful blog, Red Otter Shop last week...I was so touched! And to Mrs. French of Bliss, who hearted this Bonbon on Monday. Now that is an honor! (Read her tea & talk interview on one of my other favorite blogs, Melissa Loves...)And the biggest honor comes from my hubby via the sweet Marichelle of Heart Handmade...she's been running a great series called "The Other Half" and interviewed none-other than my awesome man Jim! You've got to read what he wrote and take a look at some of his gorgeous photos...I kind of welled up a little I must say. He really is the best half...(who'll be working his butt off Sunday at our next photo-shoot...are you reading this honey?)

Wednesday is for Wow

Sasha and the soon to be famous thumbs up picture, in those beautiful corals (J.Crew)
Susan Walsh/Associated Press

Wow that yesterday was such a heartwarming start to a new era. Wow that we have witnessed an incredible moment in American history...Wow that to feel proud to be American...Wow. Was hard to work yesterday with such excitement in the air, but alas we worked and watched!
I was so impressed by President Obama's inaugural address, his capacity to think so big and his ability to deliver a very sobering speech in such an inspirational way. Was particularly struck by this part:
"We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

What did you think---did any part of his speech strike a chord with you?

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
-MLK

In celebration of today and tomorrow and big dreams that come true, hooray for us all!

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

p.s. have you seen the footage from Washington? wow.

But Spring Really is Coming

Next Week the Spring Collection goes up (all the Spring goodies will be revealed and there will be a little winter sale to boot just in time for Valentine's Day--stay tuned!)--something to cheer us all up I hope, especially here in this frozen cold of winter! I've been looking through the pictures from last summer while getting ready for next week photo sessions and found these, not by Jim, but by our friend Chris Ketchie who came along to Gramercy Park on the shoot (kind of "shots of the shoot"!)...I loved his painter's perspective, looking for shapes in each frame as well as the candid shots of our lovely model ana...

The Drawing Board: Fall/Winter 2009

my inspirations boards for Fall Winter '09

Hungary, 1931, a picture I love from National Geographic

Am stealing a break from my self-imposed Super Intense Design Week: Fall Winter 09/10. E-mail's been turned off, phones go to machine...We're doing something we haven't really attempted before so I'm excited, nervous, stressed out, overjoyed, all those things...my photo-shoot is coming up next weekend and there are many miles to go before I sleep. Some seasons are just like that--they take longer to come up with because I'm pushing my limits I guess. It's different than what I've done before and that can be tricky.

Pakkenen, Merimekko

New Year's Day Sunset

I've had a lot of thoughts about this collection before it's come to fruition: I was thinking about being lost in rows of trees like ruffles, of the winter sun shining through the bare treetops marking twinkling spots of light on the ground, of light snow falling on the tips of little branches, of little surprises like bright red berries and icy flowers found by careful examination... I wanted to design a collection that is graceful and down-to-earth but glamourous for a year that I'm happy about and excited for but also a little afraid of...I'm trying to imbue each piece with a wish of good luck and good hopes.










I can't wait to show you some of these things....
And a Note of Thanks: I took inspiration from a lot of places, from the antique beads found at my favorite vendor in Paris, and then from collecting images from my few of my favorite blogs and photographers. I wanted to send thanks to the incredible images from This is Glamorous and the beautiful Mrs. French of Bliss for always giving me incredible things to look at and find and think about, wonderful Julia from Red Otter Shop (who added my Self-Portrait last week as part of her on-going series--I just realized I forgot to tell you about it in my busy-ness...please take a look!), sweet Nichole from Little Brown Pen (who always has something ethereal to share--she just moved to Paris, lucky girl!) and always Nadia of Le Porte Rouge and Aran of the delicious Cannelle-Vanille who always always inspire me in big and little ways, so much so I don't know what to do with it all sometimes--I am putting it into my work I hope....
Thanks as well to all of you who always give me confidence with your feedback and warmth and friendship and wonderful blogs that offer hours of perusing and insight and inspiration. You are my drawing board!
(Wow, this is like my award acceptance moment except I haven't won anything...)