This flickr fave comes from the amazing and talented Victoria, a.k.a. sfgirlbybay. She’s such a blog superstar that it always gives me a little jolt when I see she’s bothered to contribute to our Fresh New Spaces group! This picture is for those of you that still are not seeing a bud on a tree and still expect snow, and to remind you that blossoms can warm up and cheer you no matter how cold it is outside. For some of us, it’s a perfect time to clip some branches and force those flowers out indoors.

So Drew told me about this outsider art festival in Alabama called Do0-Nanny. Has anyone ever been? It sounds like a blast. It also says it’s 2.5 hours from Atlanta, but barring any sort of NASCAR related traffic or something horrible like that, I betcha I can make it in two. Anyway, I don’t understand exactly what it is, and I’m not a huge fan of camping, but it sounds fun and I collect outsider art. It’s March 27-28, and here’s the description from their website:

A truly unique experience!….a casserole of southern folk art, home cookin, homemade movies, camping, foot-stompin music, experimental architecture, guessing, oddities, unusual characters, a movie festival, surprises, cracker ingenuity, experiential transomism, and much more!… Folks coming in from NY, TX, CA, and beyond beyond…

Begun as a roadside folk art show in 1996, the Doo-Nanny is now located on a beautiful 80 acre farm in Seale, AL, near Columbus, Ga, and includes a wacky “lo-fi” film festival, fun food, and and eclectic assortment of music and activities.

Being organized and being pretty don’t have to go hand-in-hand, but it really helps. I recently treated myself to a fun class, and one of the first things our teacher told us was to get a pretty notebook. Cynic that I am, I kind of snorted at that, but two days later I found myself at Papersource plopping down twenty-five bucks for a KOLO linen three-ring binder.* Let me tell you why it was worth it. I put all of my assignments in it and left it out on the coffee table. I wasn’t constantly trying to stash some ugly vinyl binder somewhere out of eyesight and losing track of where that spot was! It looks so nice I want to grab it and read what’s inside.

Unlike Flavia, who showed us her Style Files last week, my notes for blogging are usually scribbled on scraps, post its, paper-clipped to lampshades, stashed in a folder I forget is in my filing cabinet, etc. I decided to bite the bullet and splurge on a blogging files binder. Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to go back to Papersource; I’m not sure. However, now when I mercilessly rip sheets out of magazines because they inspire an idea, they don’t wind up crammed between books when I need to pick up. I stash them in plastic sleeves.

Finally, (OK, I swear, after this, no more Papersource for me for AT LEAST a month – that place is my own personal crack den), I took a good hard look at my most hated binder. I’ve had the actual binder since grad school. I think it still says “QUEST” on the side, which was this stupid kumbayah snoozer of a class we budding landscape architects had to take with all of the architects, urban planners, and preservationists our first semester. The lectures were OK sometimes, but the early morning discussion sections – I’m still pissed that they robbed me of hours of my life. The point is, the cheapo hideous binder already has bad juju all over it. In its repurposed life, it says “2008 Expenses” on the cover in Sharpie, and it has two and a half year’s worth of tax receipts in there. I dread having to use it. I actually keep it hidden so I don’t have to think about doing my taxes. Now it’s time to say goodbye to it and hello to the new KOLO home for my tax crap. Of course it’s black! I think I’ll put a skull and crossbones in the square on the front.

So, too review, here’s why you should organize with pretty stuff:

1) You won’t lose it because won’t be throwing it under the sofa and out of sight all the time.

2) You will actually want to look at it and interact with it, because it’s right there in your face and you’ll be admiring it.

3) It will make you actually keep your stuff all in one designated place.

4) It gives you an excuse to go to Papersource and spend obscene amounts of money. OK, maybe this one should not be in the pro column.

Sayanora Quest Class/I.R.S. Folder!

*The Unclutterer recommended these in this New York Times article a month or so ago, and I had been unable to get them out of my head. They make really beautiful photo albums as well.

Today I have a super special designer interview to share: Jodie Fried of Bholu. The women who make the Bholu pillows and toys are not just manufacturers, they are true artisans and Jodie has given them the platform and opportunity to make a living in majorly underprivileged areas of India. The products are inspired from children’s drawings AND Jodie has worked to provide these underprivileged and malnourished kids schools, food and incredible care. All of this while following strict Fair Trade practices. Inspiring? Yes, I do think so.

Where does the word Bholu come from?

Bholu was born after I had been living in India for a couple of years. I had gone to India on a scholarship to work as a set & costume designer for a traditional Indian dance company. I had been working there and fell in love with the country and its people.  After the devastating Jan 2001 earthquake, which flattened most of Gujarat, I went to assist aid for a traditional village situated in the desert region of Kutchchh, in Western Gujarat, India, near the border of Pakistan. I worked with a NGO (non government  organization) based at the  Mahatma Ghandi Ashram in Ahmedabad,  Gujarat, my job was to help build huts and traditionally decorate  them.

I experienced amazing hospitality by these incredibly rural and poor traditional people. I became particularly close with the women, whose beautiful traditional embroidery is only really used for their own clothing. They are amazing women; they have bangles up to their armpits and do their embroidery with a child strapped to their back in low light. Their skill and art amazed me, and I thought immediately, I have to do something with this.

A few years later, I went back with my designs and gave the samples to different village women to see what would happen. I achieved some amazing results, which excited me and started the possibility for production.  The women laughed at the lack of sophistication of my designs and thought that their “Bholu” could do better! (Bholu meaning a small child, often a term of endearment to a grandchild). The name stuck and Bholu was born!

The craftswomen in Gujarat traditionally are all skilled in embroidery, it is a skill that is passed form generation to generation. Each village, in each area in each part of the state is known for their particular type of embroidery. This is only done by women. Men are known for their woodcarving. The products they make are only for their own use. They embroidery their own elaborate clothes, their daughter’s dowry, ornamental pieces for their homes, their own bags etc. The community I started with do not do any of this for commercial use.

I sometimes feel like a conductor of a creative orchestra. I love the circle of creativity in which Bholu fosters starting from the children and their creativity and the women and their craft. The products are merely a result and reason for Bholu existing. We end up with a beautiful designed product, which has passed through so many hands and creative processes to end up in our living rooms. The products, part from being useful are also meant to provide inspiration and awareness for ethical consumerism.

India is a crazy, crazy wonderful place. The people made me fall in love with the country. They are such generous, hardworking people where life revolves around family, food, colour and festivities. It is a country of such richness from all walks of life there. The bonds I have formed with the women, their families, the children in our schools and the artisans we work with, inspire me to Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Flickr Fave from tiffanycsteinke is just such a nice balance of color and white and of modern and retro. Plus I love pets in shots:

As I went back to the Fresh New Spaces Group to retrieve a link to Tiffany’s photostream, I accidentally clicked on another thumbnail, thinking it was the same room. Tiffany, meet fellow flickr member and Fresh New Spaces contributor Romero Castellano! I think your living rooms should be dating each other