Introducing Imm Living to Orange and Pear!

Imm Living creates modern cultural artifacts by drawing from traditional and popular cultures. Their products address notions of the past and present by playfully reminding us that culture evolves through experiences lived and shared. Their products are a synthesis of these experiences and they embrace them as artifacts. In sum, they design really cool items for your home that are also perfect for gift giving.

We love the "Best Years" wine stoppers for the beauty of their design and the novelty of it. Designed by Willie Tsang, each wine stopper is shaped like the animals of the Chinese Zodiac and represent their different personalities. The twelve-year cycle means you can drink and be merry, whether you were born in the year of the rat, pig or any creature in between.

There are so many fun ways you can give these totally cool wine stoppers. You can go to http://www.chinesezodiac.com/calculator.php and type in your birthday or your gift recipient's birthday and get the animal that coordinates with their birth year. Or get a different stopper for everyone in the family. Or, you can get the animal that coordinates with the year of the wine that you are bringing to the party. Or you can go here: http://www.chinesezodiac.com/signs.php and read about the qualities associated with each Zodiac sign and give the animal that most matches your friend's personality! Or just pick an animal that you like. These are great for hostess gifts, client or corporate gifts. Perfect for the boss-especially with a bottle of great wine. But, you probably should refrain from asking the boss the year he or she was born- in that case just pick the coolest animal- like the horse or the ox. The pig or the snake might not be the best choices for the boss though- just a thought.

Orange and Pear in Woman's Day!

Thanks Woman's Day for featuring our mercury glass votive set from Roost in their special Halloween Celebrations edition (on new stands now)! The set comes with 6 votives, each one is different- giving the set a really cool, vintage feeling. They are perfect for Halloween decorating, and gorgeous for the Holidays. Of course, I love them year round. I still have mine on my mantle and I just love the way the look. Stay tuned for some more great products from Roost for the holidays!

fall colors

Wow, what a cold day in CT today, although it's nothing compared to how cold it's going to get pretty soon but it's just so hard to get used to! Regardless, fall is a wonderful season-I love the muted earthtones- the reds, ochres and golds. So, I put together a little collage of some of our items that make me think of the warm, rich colors of fall.

from left to right
1st row: John Derian Native American's sitting, CDP Orange Blossom cream, Lucia tea leaf and honey soap, Royola Pacific Designs utility tray
2nd row: Sukie City notebook, Jill Rosenwald orchid vase, MZ Wallace Olivia in cranberry, John Derian Native American's Standing
3rd row: Linnea's Lights pumpkin candle, Ted Rossi studded wrap bracelet, Rebekah Brooks gold swallow necklace

Oh and one more thing, for our lovely blog readers, now through Friday, 10/8, get 15% off! Use code: Oct15.

Trends . . .

I recently had a chance to catch up on all my magazine reading. It can really pile up since I subscribe to a ton of great magazines! I'm kind of a magazine junky. Anyway, there are so many great trends out there but I saw three mentioned in InStyle and the New York Times that we have covered. Stackable rings- we have some beautiful sets from the talented Robindira Unsworth. Large hoops earrings- we have great hoops by another wonderfully witty and accomplished designer- Amanda Sterett and Robindira. And Leopard in the New York times. I've seen leopard mentioned everywhere! We have the best leopard bags by MZ Wallace- they are simply gorgeous!

The Magisso Cake Server- a great design, a useful tool!

We are constantly searching for that unique gift that you know your gift recipient doesn't have- a gift that is well-priced, beautifully design and offers great packaging for a perfect presentation. And if this item could solve a little problem or two- well, we are all over it! That's what the Magisso cake server is all about- great design, great packaging and just darn useful. It is designed by Maria Kivijärvi, a young Art & Design student from Finland. In Mariaʼs own words, “despite the recent trend for functional and innovative design in kitchen utensils and tableware, the basic idea of the cake server had not changed in a long time. For this design, I was deliberately searching for a completely new functionality and appearance for the cake server”. Ok, how many times have you tried to put your beautiful masterpiece of a cake on your guest's plate with a skinny pie server for it to just topple sadly upside down? Or even worse- break into two pieces! That's what this amazing invention is all about. Style meets function in this unique object that simplifies the task of cutting and moving a piece of cake in one action. By pressing down on the cake with the Magisso cake server, you can cut a perfect piece of cake and hold onto it! By lightly squeezing the handle, you can lift the piece of cake, then release it on your guestʼs plate. Voila- cake piece intact!

The Magisso cake server in stainless is made of mirrored stainless steel, which is cut and bent to give it this unique shape, it is then polished by hand to assure a great finish. It is the perfect gift for families and friends and just won a 2010 red dot product design award. It ships in a fun, well designed box that's great for gift-giving. Check out this video to see how this nifty tool works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4NVLcfXcfE

New this year are this great vibrant colors- black, lime, purple and white in strong plastic. At $19.00, they make a perfect hostess gift!

• dishwasher safe
• made from BPA-free, food safe plastic

Calendars!

It seems crazy but yes, we have already received many of our 2011 calendars and yes, they are already selling! We have a gorgeous wall calendar from Snow and Graham- over sized and making the perfect statement for any wall or bulletin board. We also have the best selling desk and mini desk calendars from Snow and Graham that are perfect for gift giving. New for this year, Snow and Graham introduced a great "write-on" calendar that offers cool design and practicality. Linda and Harriett offered yet another absolutely beautiful letterpress calendar for 2011 with tear-off postcards. Liz Libre, the owner of Linda and Harriett is about to have a baby, so we are happy to have her amazing designs before the baby arrives and starts to take over! This calendar sold out before Thanksgiving so get yours before they are gone! And have you seen her birthday calendar? It's great to keep handy to help you remember to celebrate all the important people in your life! We'll keep you informed about some new ones that we found in our travels. Stay tuned!

MZ Wallace Fall Collection is in and it's gorgeous!

We really love this collection- great colors, perfect prints and so many different, useful and unique shapes. Nothing looks too, too "fall" so they can be used year-round. The silhouettes are fresh and modern. It's no wonder MZ Wallace has such a loyal following. They know how to keep their customers happy! Let us know what you think! We just got in over a dozen new styles and they are already selling fast! So, check it out!