Saturday, March 5, 2011

Soulemama Featured Sponsor & Giveaway

What a treat to be the featured sponsor on Soulemama!
I've been a fan of Amanda's blog for a while now. While
My kids are grown now, I find so much similarity in the
rhythm of her day to day life, the desire to balance it all
as mother, wife and creative businesswoman
and my own journey.
Can't wait to see who wins the Dragonfly Giveaway!
While you're at it, fan us on Facebook

Baby Dragonfly

Momma Dragonfly

Unisex Child & Adult Dragonfly

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Inspiration Takes Many Forms

Given the fast pace of life during the spring, summer and fall,
winter is a time to regroup, create new work and be inspired.
With Farmers' Market only 5 weeks away (!), spring is on my mind.

There are other harbingers of spring: last week's weather in the 60's,
the rosemary plant that has sprouted some hidden
morning glories from last summer outdoors

and the oleander and fig tree waking up.

Still, the view from my bed yesterday morning was awe inspiring,
enough to make me temporarily put spring fever out of my mind
and feel gratitude just to be right where I was.

No need to rush things. I'll have my morning tea
in my favorite Bill Davis Pottery mug, read my book
and let the inspiration warm me.
What's inspiring you today?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Perfectionism/Procrastination VS. Taking Action!

Sometimes, I think that I turn Perfectionism/Procrastination
into a fine art. I stew over certain tasks forever, afraid to take
the first step because I haven't figured it all out yet.
It's good to be prepared, to put your best effort out
there but, it can also be paralyzing. No fun, no action. Well,
after years of ruminating over the idea of doing a CSB,
Community Supported Business, I finally took advantage
of snow days and hunkered down at the computer.


In addition to fine tuning how the CSB would work, I finally took
the time to create my first newsletter (yet another thing
that I had been procrastinating on!). If you're not on the Silk Oak
mailing list yet, feel free to sign up for the newsletter!

Since so much of what I do is centered around creating a
Local, Living Economy , CSAs and CSBs are an integral part
of that. I'm excited to Take Action and looking forward to
seeing what the response is to the CSB.

So, without further adieu, here's the Silk Oak CSB!

Join the Silk Oak CSB

Community Supported Business

and Help Us Grow!

Buy a Share for the 2011 Season and receive a Bonus Gift Now!

What’s a CSB?Like a CSA, the CSB model is a partnership between a local business & their community. Members buy a share for the season and the business uses the money to grow and expand their business. Everyone benefits!

How does it work?
Purchase shares in the form of CSB Certificates, receive a Bonus gift now and redeem your certificate during the Market season, April to December. They are available in increments of $100.00 and will be redeemable for Silk Oak merchandise at our booth at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market, Ithacamade or on our website and Etsy shop starting in April.
They will be available for purchase from January 31 to March 15. Shares over $200.00 purchased before February 15th will receive an extra 10% discount!

What's my Bonus Gift!

$100.00 share receives and Organic Tote Bag
$200.00 share receives an Organic Tote & a Journal-
if purchased by February 15, get 10% discount, pay $180.00
$300.00 share receives a Hoodie Sweatshirt-
if purchased by February 15, get 10% discount, pay $270.00
$500.00 share receives a Hoodie, Organic Tote, Journal & Card Pack-
if purchased by February 15, get 10% discount, pay $450.00
Larger shares are welcomed, just ask us!
For more info: silkoak@silkoak.com or 607-275-9970


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Settling In



It's been a few months since we opened the new store,
Ithacamade, but it's just starting to feel like we're settling
in. It was so hectic during the Market season that it all
seemed to go by in a blur.
Winter is the time to regroup, clean up the mess that
accumulates at a dizzying pace as the year draws to a
close and find some quiet space to create new work for
the coming season.

I can't help but think that the super
case of entropy that set in this year had something to do
with closing the little store at the height of the Market
season and opening the new one without ever dealing
with all the stuff that got cast off in the move. Still, it feels
daunting. Here are some before pictures. I'll post some after
as we make more progress.



Sunday, April 11, 2010

Fruit Trees!

Yesterday was another wonderful day at Market. Windy and blustery in the morning- I brought my gloves, scarf and down coat. It stays so cool on the lake side of the pavilion that I kept them on all day. Thanks to my white tarp, I kept the light in the booth and the wind out! By the end of the day, the weather was glorious! There is something idyllic about the way the sun shines across the water on the inlet at 5:00, when the wind is calm. A perfect ending to the day.

Today was beautiful. Cool in the morning and perfect, mild, spring weather later on. It inspired me to go buy the fruit trees that I have envisioned putting in the planters for over a year now. 2 dwarf Reliance peaches and 2 dwarf Anjou pears seemed perfect!

Those who know me (and love me as I am), know that I can be the consummate procrastinator. At times, I can raise it to an art form. Always wanting to get it perfect, I can put things off till it reaches the level of absurdity. No more! I decided to strike while the iron was hot.
2 trips to Agway for locally grown nursery stock, one trip to the house for a shovel and watering can and I got to work.
Amazingly enough, it took less than 2 hours to transport the trees, dig the holes, water them and take the tools back home. It was such a cheerful sight that I had to walk back to the store with my camera and take some photos. Hey, how about the nice bike rack?
Next step is to get some herbs in the planter to continue my edible landscaping plan. I wonder if folks will pick the edibles or just continue to use the planters as oversize garbage bins, like they usually do.

Monday, April 5, 2010

The New Tomato Design

Another amazing day. Way too warm for April 5Th, but no complaints. As promised, here are some photos of our newest design, the luscious, juicy Tomato. The process goes from idea to thought process to image to cutting and building screen to printing. This culminates in bringing the finished product to Market. So exciting! I wanted to show some photos of the Tomato hanging for the clothesline at the Market booth but they sold off the line too fast to let me take a picture. Yay!


Here we adhere the lacquer film to the screen. Given that our process is pretty old school, this is the only nasty part of the whole deal. So, it makes it really nice to be able to do it outside in the fresh air!
Just a little time to air dry before we're ready to peel off the backing and tape off the edges.

After doing the first color, we let it air dry and apply the second color. It really comes to life!
And here we are. The culmination of all the work! Actually, there's a whole lot more to this whole process. after the printing is done, we let it air dry for a day and launder it in three successively hotter washes to remove the washing soda and excess dye. After 33 1/3 years of doing this, I still get excited every time I see a new finished product!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Amazing day at Market. The first day of the 2010 season, jam packed and over 80 degrees! Usually, the first few Markets start out slow. This is a blessing since it takes time to remember how to set things up and get all of the things together that you need to sell each day. Lucky for me, I live less than 2 miles away so I can dash back to the studio sometimes to pick up important things I forgot. ( this doesn't always work so well as any local can tell you who has spent half an hour or more trying to get into Market!).
Anyway, it was wonderful to be back and a treat to forgo the sheepskin boots, down jacket and hand warmers, in favor of flip flops and a short sleeve v-neck tee. Very odd weather for April 3rd but enjoyable nonetheless!
I was reading Maya Donenfeld's blog, www.mayamade.blogspot.com . She has added a new feature called "Fix it Friday". Each week she will fix something around her home and showcase the process on her blog. Maya says, "The goal is to bring attention to the lost art of fixing, rather than discarding. Repair is a creative form in it's own right, but has been forgotten in our throw-away society". Wow, I really resonated with that. There is nothing more satisfying than breathing new life into something, rather than discarding it and purchasing a new one. It's not just about being thrifty. It's about valuing the resources that went into creating it to begin with, to say nothing of the joy in knowing that we are still capable of being resourceful and taking care of business!
Maya had a link to the "Repair Manifesto" from platform21, which is so inspiring that I had to copy it here. Read it, be inspired and check in on Friday's to see what the ever innovative Maya decides to take on!