Well, I don’t suppose any blog can become famous by pointing out other blogs. Well, it’s a good thing I blog mostly to promote my product. 
I have found a new blog that seems really fun. It’s called the Look Book. On the 8th, she posted a fun hair piece. Goose feathers I think, dyed pink, yellow, and blue. Very unique and fun.
Many of you are registered with Orlando Freecycle. If so you know the amount of message you get are daunting. I have ended up setting up a rule on my computer where they are marked as read and put in the trash. Then if I need to do a quick search for something (like a new cell phone) I just search phone i my e-mail and see what is out there.
As an artist, I don’t see this working. My vision with Art-cycle would be to have built a connection of business owners and artist/teachers where if anyone has 10,000 small multicolored triangle or a cup of baby blue paint they could post it on Art-cycle and if any artist a part of the group could use it, they contact the “supplier” and make arrangement for taking off their hands. Maybe in the future, we could have a place. I know this was piloted before in Orlando but I am not sure they are still open. (If you have any information on this please comment below. I’d rather support something someone else is doing.)
In the mean-time, there is a free-cycle store which meets from 2-6 on the first Saturday of the month. It is held at and sponsered by Ethos Vegan Kitchen in the Ivanhoe neighborhood. 
Ethos is owned by Kelly and Laina Schockly. (Laina is Tia Meer’s sister, who established the Simple Living Institute in Orlando) If you haven’t experience Ivanhoe yet, you should come out on a first Saturday. Have lunch at White Wolf or Ethos, shop around, the head on over to the free-cycle shop on the Ethos patio. For more information about the store, e-mail blackmanateecollective@gmail.com.
I have highlighted a few blogs out there, those writing on fashion or wedding trends, especially where feathers are concerned. I just came accross one that ranks up there as one of my favorits. On Bryce Digdug’s blog, he wrote “Whatever your look, something, anything, must cap it off — literally. Look out for old-school hip-hop or Beastie Boy caps, panama hats, wool fedoras, scarves, headbands, feathers and beads, bowler hats. And if that’s not your cup of tea, there’s always a punked-out ‘do or dark roots to keep things very “now.” You can also channel Nicole Richie and go for a “headlace” or “headlet” — those thingamajigs she wears on her head.”
I love the way he honesty and cleverly turns the phrase. It keeps you reading like you would trashy romance novels… if you’re into that sort of thing. I don’t personally, but I imagine it would be just like that. And, he is a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove which has got to be one of the most hilarious films of the 60’s. One thing is for sure, he has an eye for pretty things, art, architecture, fashion. Check his blog out here.
Yeah right! Not on your life! Seriously, if I start to actually give tax tips, you should just stop me. But I do have a good friend who works for Wendroff & Associates who give excellent tax advice as well as quarterly question and answer session for business owners, (and if you are a business owner or thinking of becoming one, you need to subscribe to their mailing list. The only way I know to do that is to sign up for a class, which you can do so here for free.)
So they just came out with the top-ten tax tips for January. They do inform us that Bush’s tax cuts for the rich will be ending soon so you better make less and cash in on your lower capital gains rates (Not their words, but mine.) Some of their advice in this report doesn’t do much for me and companies like me… in their first year, barely making anything, but hey it’s info I’d like my friends to know. Some of it may be helpful like hiring your kids but be careful as it could mess with their financial aid (check their website for details). Their advice does get me thinking of a hybrid though, but I just don’t think buying another car will actually be better for the environment. I think I will continue being a vegetarian (or maybe flexitarian, eating meat once a month or so and trying to only by grass fed beef) and by not eating meat I cut down on enough CO2 emissions to make up for one car. Then I can ride my bike more and drive less. So I will make an even greater impact on the environment. They should give tax breaks for that, somehow, I think that the tax breaks are more motivated in getting you to buy than actually doing good. Nothing brings out class frustration like tax talk, no wonder I should stay out, if only for that reason alone.
Feather’s again in the spotlight, this time it was on the Everything Fabulous blog, whose tag line touts, A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous, (a Coco Channel quote.)
This blog is well put-together. I was glad to see the use of pheasant tail in the first piece (along with Schlappen, the long black/iridescent green feathers also in the hair-piece.) I have had a couple pheasant tail pieces out now. I think if any remain the would be at Infusion Tea House or at Etoile. Here is a couple of shots of what I have. You can always check out more at kariesuecreations.etsy.com (though I haven’t really updated it in a while.)
Feathers continue to be a big hit on fashionista blogs. Check out Sydney in Seattle, Mama’s a Rolling Stone, Lynn Talks, Pakistani Fashion Trends, Brass Chandelier, and Sin and Jewels. They are also listed in the celebrity tracker blogs like, Style by Me. A writer on the Fetch, the Taigan blog, wrote in her article titled Glamour Girls, “My own guilty fashion pleasures are sequins, jeweled appliqués, anything gold or silver, feathers and fur. I appreciate bling and flash; I love a show-stopper dress.” We are seeing them in clothes, hair, bags and shoes!
… and learn about resources for entrepreneurs, feather trends, and whatever else I happen to write about. I mean, what other blog, twitter, facebook page can offer such an eclectic bit of info?
Well, If you have a fav, here are the links to follow!
I was downtown and in between meetings, so I decided to run a quick errand to the Post Office (how is it that the downtown PO is the worst in the city. They have no APC (Automated Postal Centers) which I always prefer. ) Well, it was on that errand that I happened upon Java Lava. A very cute local restaurant and coffee place tucked away on Robinson East of Orange.
The joint is owned by a man names Frankie Lavallette and a guy named Bob (dun know his last name.) They came up with the store name by mixing the name of his home town and his last name together. (Which when I first saw the name, I thought it was Hawaiian coffee. The disappointment didn’t last long.) So, really, what I loved about this place was the front of the store. You could lock your bike up to a little tree out front (there are two) and have a cup of Joe and some bread-y sandwich thing (not anything I would really have… not too much of a sandwich girl) outside in their cast iron tables and pretend for a moment that your not in Orlando. All joking aside, it really is a nice place and the people who work there are very friendly. You also have a beautiful view of the Diocese… which is what?? I don’t know. A very beautiful building.
You really should check it out if your in the Orlando area.
You have heard me speak of Eco-Fi or Eco-Spun felt. I use it as the base for most of my feather hairpieces as well as accents. My choice to use this fabric falls right in-line with my company vision, to be a sustainable fashion line that is eco-friendly, animal friendly, and people friendly. Eco-fi – polyester fiber is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.
The fabric is made in four steps. 1. Plastic PET containers are picked up at community recycling centers, then sorted by type and color. 2. Plastic containers are stripped of their labels and caps, washed, and crushed, then chopped into flake. 3. The flake is melted and extruded to create fiber. The fiber is crimped, cut, drawn and stretched into desired length for strength, then baled. 4. The baled fiber can be processed into fabric for a variety of textile product end uses. You can watch this process here: Eco-fi
The product is made in Massachusetts but you can buy this fabric from your local JoAnn’s or on the web at Kunin Fabrics. Just another way to lesson you fashion footprint.
I have taken quite a bit of pride in being a company that is conscientious on many levels. I use as little as possible and reuse everything from wallpaper and newspaper to wrap purchased and make business cards to using Eco-fi felt as the base for most of my creations. (Eco-fi felt is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.) It occurred to me last fall that I had no idea where my feathers were coming from so I called the headquarters of Zucker feathers and inquired where their feathers came from. I then learned that most feather companies work in cahoots with the meat industry:
I began researching and found a company that was better about telling me where my feathers came from and how thew are obtained. This lead me to Ostrich.com which has in their mission statement: To educate the world to the phenomenal benefits of ethically farming ostriches in order to produce luxurious ostrich leather and heart-healthy ostrich meat together with the unequaled by-products of this unique animal.
Now some may believe eating the bird is not ethical, which is why I wanted to know everything about every feather product I sell, so my customers can choose wisely based on their ethics. One bit of info to keep in mind is that approximately two to four billion pounds of poultry feathers are produced every year by the poultry industry, (consider these are feathers… That is a lot!) and like other forms of keratin, these are slow to decompose. Also, another thing that attracted me to Ostrich was that the feathers they sell are collected while the bird is alive, through the natural molting process!
To learn more about what I use to make my pieces, check out my catalog.
