StyleCarrot

Covet: Dot Vases by Ben Fiess

Dot vases by Ben Fiess for Inesse, $50 at Gretel Home

I’m in love with these limited edition vases in pretty pastels with pin dots.

They are designed by ceramicist Ben Fiess for Inesse, handmade in Minnesota of cast high-fired porcelain. The vases are colored with vitreous engobes (a specific clay slip which is applied to each vase’s surface) and have glossy white interiors. Each Dot vase is produced as one of a limited edition of 25 and comes with a numbered and signed card.

I’ve already ordered three Dot vases and am eagerly awaiting their arrival. Fiess also makes these crazy cool utilitarian vessels.

ARTmonday: Boston International Fine Art Show

The Boston International Fine Art Show is this week, Thursday, November 13, 2014 to Sunday, November 16, 2014 at The Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts in Boston’s South End. Approaching 50 exhibitors, including many local greater Boston area and New England galleries, the BIFAS showcases historic, modern, and contemporary artworks.

Among the galleries exhibiting artwork at BIFAS are the South End’s Adelson Galleries, Newbury Street’s Newbury Fine Art and Vose Galleries, Beacon Hill’s Sloane Merrill Gallery, Gloucester’s Trident Gallery, and Portsmouth’s The Banks Gallery. It’s a manageable show, in a venue that gets sunlight, with enough good work that makes it worth stopping by. (I have that on good authority from a friend/serious collector.)

The Gala Preview is this Thursday, benefiting Friends of the Boston Park Rangers Mountain Unit. There’s a New Collectors Salon on Friday evening, and Peter Trippi, Editor-in-Chief of Fine Art Connoisseur will speak on Saturday afternoon.

M.M. Ciciovan, Hitchcock’s Universe, 2012, oil on panel

Jessica Brown, Still Life with Silver Jug, Quails Eggs and Salt
Quantum Contemporary Art

David Brega, Nature Boy, oil on masonite, Palm Avenue Fine Art

Meghan Howland, Megaflora, oil on canvas, Bowerstock Gallery

John Leslie Breck, Martha Richardson Fine Art

William Bradford, The ‘Mary Jane’ of Eastport, Maine, William Vareika Fine Arts

Jacob A. Pfeiffer, A Bird In Hand, oil on panel

Cyclorama at Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont Street, Boston

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Sunday Bouquet: Fall Foliage for The Kinfolk Table

Last year, Sunday Suppers hosted a dinner to celebrate the launch of Kinfolk Magazine’s new cookbook The Kinfolk Table. They hung leaves from the ceiling for an autumnal atmosphere. The meal was served family style on a rustic wood table with benches using ceramic dishes by Frances Palmer (you can find a few of her pieces here).

Flowers by BRRCH

The Kinfolk Table
Recipes for Small Gatherings
Nathan Williams

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Shop rustic tableware & find recipes at Food52 >

Foodie Friday: Dancing Deer Cookie Factory Tour

Last week local Boston business Dancing Deer Baking Co. invited me for a behind-the-scenes tour of its cookie and brownie factory. Having been the recipient of a crazy delicious Dancing Deer gift basket last month, there was no way I was missing this press opp. I’ve eaten more than my fair share of Dancing Deer treats recently, sent Dancing Deer gifts to friends and family over the past couple of years, and seen their packages at Whole Foods, but other than that I didn’t know much about the company.

Dancing Deer started 20 years ago as a bakery that provided cakes to cafes and restaurants, quickly added packaged consumer goods, then expanded into a retail shop when neighbors demanded taste after taste. Three years in, Dancing Deer won a major industry award for its Molasses Clove Cookie. As a chocolate devotee, who doesn’t believe non-chocolate calories have any value, I can tell you it is delicious; perfect with a cup of tea.Dancing Deer cookies and brownies are scratch made in relatively small batches in an industrial park in Boston. All of the products are certified kosher, some of them are gluten-free; none of them are vegan.

A huge amount of its business is conducted this time of year, when they increase the labor force hugely, with workers returning year after year, and often coming on full-time when spots open. Dancing Deer is committed to environmentally-friendly practices as well as philanthropy, with its Sweet Home Project initiative, which helps homeless families move into stable lives and homes of their own by providing funding and support for low-income single parents to complete their college education and enter family sustaining careers.

Let’s take the behind-the-scenes factory tour. You can easily order cookies and brownies online—they are perfect presents for birthdays, holidays, sympathy, congratulations, pretty much anything, and come in adorable recycled cardboard boxes or natural baskets. Dancing Deer is offering StyleCarrot readers an exclusive 30% discount sitewide from today through Nov. 15, 2014 with promo code CARROT.

S H O P for C O O K I E S

Shop Dancing Deer here.
Use promo code CARROTS for 30 percent off!

Some favorites:

Sweet Home for the Holidays Gift, $44.99

Large Variety Cookie Sampler, $49.99

Premium Christmas Bakery Gift, $44.99

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Brownie Gift Box, $28.99

Molasses Clove Cookie Gift Box, $23.99

Chocolate Espresso Birthday Cake Party Kit, $29.99

more Dancing Deer Products >

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Scheming: Perfect Turquoise Table Lamps

I’m not sure if you remember, but a couple of years ago I decorated my friend Meredith’s apartment in New York. I’m not a designer, but Meredith and Daniel somehow trusted me to put together the rooms in their beautiful condo in a high rise building on the Upper East Side. Meredith and I had a great time choosing wallpaper and furniture that summer, and we did it all remotely, me on the Cape and her in New York and Connecticut.

Although I posted some mock up designs, I don’t think I ever revealed the finished rooms. Here is the post with the inspiration and plan for the master bedroom: Scheming: Meredith & Daniel’s Master Bedroom, and below, a detail photo of the finished room, picturing the upholstered headboard with nailhead detailing against that the fabulous arc-patterned wallpaper, and glass-topped white nightstand with cerulean blue glazed ceramic table lamp by Robert Abbey.

The bedroom had been on my mind after yesterday’s post about the current lighting trend of using low hanging pendant lights by the bedside in place of table lamps. I know I said I prefer a sconce, but I certainly recognize the decorative value of a beautiful table lamp, especially in a classic bedside vignette such as this one. I particularly like this table lamp by Robert Abbey for its simple, slightly tapered silhouette, subtle detailing, crisp color, and plain white lampshade. Plus, it’s available in many colors.

Today, I’ve teamed up with Boston-based online furnishings behemoth Wayfair to offer you an exclusive promo code for 15 percent off any lamp featured on Wayfair. (You get a discount and I get a $100 gift certificate). Promo code WFLAMPS15 is valid today through Monday (Nov. 6 to Nov. 10, 2104). One more time: StyleCarrot readers get 15 percent off all lamps with promo code WFLAMPS15.

Have a look at Meredith’s bedroom (I realize the table isn’t styled, but still I think it looks pretty good), check out the half dozen turquoise table lamps I chose (including Meredith’s Robert Abbey Isis lamp), and then shop for your own table lamps at Wayfair with the 15% off table lamp promo code WFLAMPS15.

Meredith’s master bedroom in NYC, designed by StyleCarrot.

T U R Q U O I S E T A B L E L A M P S

S H O P P I N G

1 Isis Table Lamp by Robert Abbey, $200.20

2 Duncombe Park Table Lamp by Stein World, $230.98

3 Capri Table Lamp by Jonathan Adler, $298.10

4 Holmby Table Lamp by Couture, Inc., $258.75

5 Josie Table Lamp by Aspire, $160.66

6 Jayne Three Sphere Table Lamp by Safavieh, $161.34

E X C L U S I V E O F F E R for S T Y L E C A R R O T R E A D E R S

Get 15% off all lamps at Wayfair today (11-06-14) through Monday(11-10-14) with promo code WFLAMPS15. Shop lamps here.

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