ADVENTURES OF THE COOKIE QUEEN

I met someone who has met my Sheep Idol standards (there are only two people so far) and her name is Hazel. I met her at the Harvest Fair at our local school (an environmental magnet school on 50 beautiful acres) where she had baskets of gorgeous skeins of wool in a palette to die for. I had my young bottle-fed Buttercup with me and she was very curious about the wool with no sheep attached. Hazel, sinewy, tan and of indeterminate age was communing quietly with my lamb clearly having several lifetimes of experience when it comes to sheep.

Buttercup checks out the fleece bag

Hazel lives on a 1,000 acre sheep ranch called Bodega Pastures near the tiny West Sonoma County town of Bodega. The property is also home to a preschool called Pastures where it is not uncommon to have a bummer lamb recovering by the fire while toddlers run and play along side. The ranch is managed in an organic and humane way so the meat they sell and the wool they gather is of the finest quality.

They say:

We practice natural, ecological, ethical, sustainable ranching. Our sheep live a good life on pasture, eating grass and drinking spring water that flows from high on our ridges.

Along with meat they offer a variety of wooly things such as raw fleece from several breeds, roving, batting, yarn in luscious natural colors and a wide variety of beautiful dyed colors, sheepskin rugs, comforters, quilts and pillows.

A little playful interaction at Bodega Pastures

Visit Bodega Pastures and other Bodega people and projects at www.bodeganet.com

I have a friend in the media business, a good friend, and she works for O’Reilly Media, publishers of both MAKE and CRAFT magazines. Both are quarterly and about as innovative and cool as you can get. MAKE is for the growing number of DIY (do-it-yourself) techies - the kind of people who make a camera from chain saw parts in their garage. CRAFT is for the renegade crafter - the hipster who wants to crochet a robot or embroider their skateboard.

So it will come as no surprise that the fabulous Amy Sedaris is the cover star of the most recent issue of CRAFT which features an excerpt from her book, “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence” on how to make the perfect party cake.

A little nugget:  The cover was shot in New York city by Todd Oldham.  With input from the CRAFT creative team, of course.

My friends at CRAFT have provided me with this nice link so that you can read the cake article.

On to liquor…in the very same issue of craft, there is a Bar Essentials article authored by expert cocktailer, Alex Mountjoy and features many of our favorite cocktail recipes.  Check it out - not only is it informative and entertaining but it has possibly started my career as a hand model.  It features our personal tiki bar and was shot down at the Dolce Mia warehouse using Alex and I as “models.”

It’s all about the band for me. I began using the bands last Spring on our invitations and thank you cards as an accent - a visual seduction for the consumer - and realized that they are powerful and great looking. We use our giclee printer to print a unique design on artist quality canvas and then hand cut and wrap the band around the stationery box. It added design punch, sales went up and feedback confirmed that the band was here to stay.

“What else can I band?” was my next question and that is how I decided on a whole new product category - soap.

I figured out the perfect retro combination of pattern and image that would look dynamite as wall art. At Dolce Mia, we have always featured imagery from the ’40’s and ’50’s. My image library contains thousands of images in books published as early as the 20’s.

Trains Wall Art

To update our look, I wanted to bring some geometric patterns into the designs. Specifically, I was looking for great ’70’s wallpaper, geometric patterns, and floral fabric to combine with our current retro imagery. I started by ordering several Agile Rabbit books published by Pepin Press that contain stunning images for use as a graphic resource, or inspiration. All the illustrations and patterns are stored in high-resolution format on CD-ROM included with the book. The uses are endless.

Another great source for pattern is on stock photo websites. Fotolia and IStockphoto are two sites that I have used. I search for “vintage wallpaper” or “geometric pattern” and get tons of results.

Lastly, there is the non-digital option of vintage fabric. My favorite websites for procuring great fabric are Make Me Fabric and the eBay store of Majik Horse Fabrics. I find what I like, order it and scan it.