Loving Local: Southern Makers

Spring has sprung and with all the green busting out on the vine, so too are great events happening everywhere. The Southern Makers, held in Montgomery, Alabama May 3, 2014 (with fun kickoff party is Friday May 2!), is a one day festival celebrating all things homegrown and handmade in Alabama. The event, which is held in the Union Station Train Shed in downtown Montgomery, is chock full of markets, workshops and educational sessions, and features tops chefs, fashion designers, woodworkers and farmers, all brandishing their talents and wares. It is an unprecendented opportunity to "Meet your Maker" as the venue touts, and never has there been a more inspiring gathering of southern talent in one place.

Icing on the funnel cake, all proceeds from ticket sales benefit E.A.T. South (Educate. Act. Transform), an organization that encourages healthy lifestyles through education and sustainable food production in urban areas throughout the Southeast.

Kudos to those behind the making of Southern Makers: the vision was realized, created and curated by architecture-engineering firm Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc., design consulting firm Matter, and  E.A.T. South.

If you're lucky enough to attend, kindly bend our ear about how fantastic it was when you are back! We'll be watching from afar, wishing we were there.

PHOTO CREDITS | All images have been provided by Southern Makers. Top two images were taken by Michelle Marie Photography, the third image by Grace Photography and the last graphic is the website which was designed by Matter.

Carla Stolper

Hi. my name is… Carla Stolper

My company is… CFMichaels

I’m the… Owner, CEO, Scout, Designer, Editor, Photographer

I make/design/create… CFMichaels is a new online boutique offering a curated collection of vintage textiles, art and storied home accessories. We’re on the ground, based in Thailand, hand sourcing unique and beautiful pieces and the authentic works of generational artisans across SE Asia. Our inventory consists primarily of one-of-a-kind items so will continually evolve.  Services may soon add to the mix.

Through the blog, we plan to contextualize the products we offer by pairing them with design trade favorites, and by showcasing this corner of the world and our good-life finds from a design and travel perspective.

Something you need to know about me is... I grew up with music in the house most every day, would most likely take music over a book to a deserted island. I take my playlists very seriously. To some of my guests’ delight and others’ chagrin, I have a tendency to break out the disco. Sometimes the setting is inappropriate and I have to fight the urge, even when I’m convinced more dancing less talking is the way to go.

Here’s how this company came to be... Essentially I decided that I couldn’t move around the world again without building something from this unique opportunity I have.  I wanted to somehow leverage my years of global living and travel and combine that with my longtime love of interiors and the hunt for beautiful things.  It didn’t take long after arriving in SE Asia to see that the region is rich in remarkable things - it was the right place and the right time.  So with that, a design sense, and both travel and the “art of acquisition” second nature, I needed a portable venue.  Letting go of the notion that I could create a website on my own and hiring professionals to develop an e-commerce site really transformed the process and the momentum.  Although we’re infants, I love what we’ve introduced and I’m excited to see how we evolve.

My absolute favorite thing we sell right now is… I love the patina and leopard-like pattern of this Nepalese singing bowl.  And the long history and noted benefits of these bowls is so intriguing.  They’re made of seven metals representing seven planets, and, as the story goes, their sound and shape connect to the chakras in the body.  But it’s also just a great looking piece. I also think the vintage Javanese children’s tops are so fun – I love the global vibe they’d add to a nursery or playroom and the stories you could share and imagine.

Here’s a sneak peek of something we’re working on now… Traveling across Thailand and other countries here in SE Asia I always have one eye on textiles.  I’m currently slicing and dicing and combining the pieces I’ve amassed to create some “CFMichaels exclusives.”  It’s an exciting endeavor with loads of creative potential.  Stay tuned.

I’m most proud of… That I’ve seen it through and can now see something tangible after years of daydreaming. I just want to enjoy it and every opportunity that hopefully unfolds.

I really detest…The business of business.  I’m a slight overachiever in the organization department, but spreadsheets and numbers and overall admin send me reeling.

I could never have done it without this person... Hands down my husband. There are some people in this world who just seem to get it, on every level. He’s the smartest, most supportive and selfless person I know. He’s both indulged my whims and shown me the way more times than I can count.  Although I may be quick to profess I had the fortitude to do it all on my own, not so.

I consistently read these for inspiration… Cloth & Kind (...why thanks, Carla! xx K&T), Quintessence, and I still love a hardcopy - Elle Décor, Arch Digest, House Beautiful,Veranda, T&C, my library of design books and new ones that come on the scene.

It’s a departure from design, but I have to add biographies.  I’m really motivated by stories of people who have an unimaginable capacity for endurance and will to persevere when faced with extreme challenges or adverse conditions or the gravity of a situation. They provide such perspective and a “whew!” moment of clarity, not to mention a profound appreciation for things.

I would like to share the limelight with… Ellie Edelhoff is an American photographer living here in Thailand whose work deserves recognition on a larger stage.  She has such a gifted and creative eye and captures such arresting truths about people and the spirit of places in her images, which span India, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and SE Asia.  We’re happy to say CFMichaels offers a couple favorites in our introductory collection, but you can also purchase and see the full range of her work at ellieedelhoff.smugmug.com.

IMAGE CREDITS | All images provided by Carla Stolper of CF Michaels expect the last, which is photography by Ellie Edelhoff.

Design ADAC

April & May are just chock-full of fun stuff for us here at CLOTH & KIND. We're both honored & super excited to have been invited to present at the BRADLEY showroom at ADAC, along with textile designer Victoria Larson, on What's New, What's Next in Textile Trends as part of the Veranda-hosted Design ADAC event. We cannot thank visionary Michelle Bradley enough for her constant support of CLOTH & KIND and for creating this opportunity for us.

Of course, in pure C&K style, we're pulling out all the stops and have done video interviews with some of our favorite names in textile design to spill on the changes in the world of textile design due to technology and the internet as well as what's next in textiles. Expect to hear from John Robshaw, Zak Profera of ZAK + FOX, Susan Hable Smith of Hable Construction, Clay McLaurin & Todd Piercy of Clay McLaurin Studio, Seema Krish, and Elizabeth Hewitt of Tulu Textiles. Also, we are thrilled that Victoria Larson will be sharing the soapbox with us and speaking about her experience as an independent textile designer. We would love for you to join us if you can, but if not, look for an upcoming blog post with snippets from the presentation.

Unofficial Boyfriend

It's worth mentioning that good design often takes human form...

...as in the case of this beautiful Dutch man that was staying in our hotel in Milan. Little did he know that he was quickly to become the heart-throb and unofficial boyfriend of our entire group! Chasen West, our insanely talented BlogTour Milan photographer, gracefully chased him down and asked to take a few photos of him. Thankfully, he not only happily obliged but got rather into the little photo shoot.

Keep your eyes on Kandrac & Kole's blog which will soon feature an entire post devoted to The Men of Italy. Can you just hear the girly giggles that emerged from our group each time we snapped picts of the gorgeous men in Italy?

But, alas, we digress. Back to interior design, our {ahem} true passion.

BlogTour Milan Sponsors | Modenus, BLANCO America, Gessi, Clever Storage by Kesseboehmer, Dekton by Cosentino, National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA).

Photo Credits | Chasen West Photography

LCDQ Legends 2014

The cat is officially out of the bag! CLOTH & KIND has been invited by the La Cienega Design Quarter in LA to design a window for their 6th annual Legends event. Quite simply put, we couldn't be more excited about this whole darn thing!

If you're not yet familiar with Legends, it is one of the most anticipated design events in the country. It's a  3-day celebration of design in May that brings together the top editors of the nation’s most prized shelter magazines - Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, House Beautiful and Veranda to name just a few - with VIPs and tastemakers from the worlds of interior design, architecture, decor, art and fashion for keynote panel discussions, cocktail parties, exhibitions, book signings, personal appearances and receptions. There are 40 windows in the LCDQ that will be transformed by some of the most talented designers on the planet (their words, not ours ... we're still in complete shock over having been invited!) based on the themes of various novels. Legends is the largest design event of its kind on the West Coast, and is a prominent fixture on the national design event calendar.

This year's Legends theme is Novel Interiors, Storytelling by Design. All designers were asked to choose any novel and to then design a showroom window around that theme. Our window, at Sydney Harbour Paints (which we adore, by the way) is going to be a super luxe tribute to Ian Fleming's Goldfinger. Yes, that's right... as in 'Bond, James Bond'.  Think lavish & sexy meets glam & sophisticated. As designers, the opportunity to be wildly imaginative without restraint has been a wonderfully creative and freeing experience for us and we're beyond excited about sharing our window with you. Stayed tuned for behind the scenes posts of the installation!

Oh, and another cool little thing that we're kind of thrilled about... our window will be next to those designed by some of our most admired peers in the industry like Diane von Furstenberg, House of Honey, Kerry Joyce, Mark D. Sikes, Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design & Timothy Corrigan to name just a few. AND, several of our blogger/designer friends will be there as Legends Ambassadors which will be so fun. So, to put it politely, we're frickin' stoked about this!!! Now on to the most important question... what in the world are we going to wear?!

The Palaces of Barnabò & Fortuny

We're back from our whirlwind trip to Venice & Milan as part of Modenus' BlogTour Milan. What a truly and utterly incredible journey! Without sounding cliché, there really are no words to begin to articulate what the last 10 days have meant to us... but over the next several weeks we'll certainly attempt to by injecting the blog with heavy doses of the things we saw and experienced on our Italian adventure. After arriving in Venice and taking our water taxi to the hotel, we had some time to settle in and explore on our own. Soon we'll be sharing a BlogTour Milan Photo Album post that encompasses many of our random experiences, but in the meantime we want to tell you about one of our first full days in the city of love. Veronika and Florence of Modenus arranged for us to have a wonderfully personal guided walking tour with Cristina of SlowVenice. She specializes in offering multifaceted experiences of Venice at a slower pace, one that incorporates the history and stories, both past and present, of this culturally rich city. Let us just tell you, she had us all hanging on her every beautiful, Italian-accent-drenched word and oh, oh the places she took us! Aside from wandering through the narrow, cobblestone clad back streets and learning about the vibrant Venetian history and culture, we also had the distinct pleasure of having a private meeting with the Countess Anna Barnabò and seeing, first hand, her family's stunning (and if we've ever said stunning before, we never truly meant it until now) Byzantine style palace, named Palazzo Malipiero.

The palace is located right on the Grand Canal and was originally built in the 11th century, changed hands several times, and was ultimately restored to its splendor by the Barnabò family in 1951 who undertook a substantial restoration, returning the palace to a grand eighteenth-century style. To learn more about this history of this grand home, check this and this out.

We entered the palace from a rather nondescript door on a side street just off of the Grand Canal, but once we stepped into this cool, dark foyer we knew we were in for something very special. Immediately across from the entry door was this monogrammed archway out to the garden which we will show you more of in a bit. You can begin to feel the mood, right? Quiet, serene - almost like a moment frozen in time.

Every detail had us weak in the knees. Like the light fixture and that funky little hand painted bench seat back. Oh my god!

After taking in the entryway, we climbed a set of stairs and stepped into the main hallway of the palace which quite literally took our breath away.

The patina of the cracked plaster walls and that ornate molding painted in lovely pastels took us to a totally different time and place. Oh, yes - and Murano glass chandeliers adorned just about every space we entered in the palace.

The grand living room with floor to ceiling windows that open directly onto the Grand Canal was like a moment frozen in beautiful time.

The sitting room off of the main living room is home to a TV and newspapers, evidence that the Countess enjoys spending time in this space.

Check out the Chinoiserie silk fabric that graces these chairs. To die for.

The rugs throughout the space were beyond anything we'd seen before.

Fabric drenched walls, with an ornate mirror.

The bright and cheerful dining room.

We loved this little bobble head dude... oh, and how about the marbeling in the panels below? Too good.

A view from the gardens, taken above in the dining room.

Just as grand as the interior.

OK, yes, we were being total tourists.... but can you blame a couple of design freaks like us?

After bidding the Countess goodbye, Cristina took us next to the Palazzo Fortuny which is now a museum. For textile addicts like us who adore the sumptuous and always decadent Fortuny fabric line, we were acutely aware of just how fortunate we were that the museum happened to be open when we were there.

This large gothic style palace, the exterior of which you can see below, was transformed by Mariano Fortuny into his personal atelier of photography, stage-design, textile-design and painting. While its own collections are vast and plenty, it remains closed much of the time and only opens to highlight temporary exhibits from different artists. We caught the Spring at Palazzo Fortuny exhibit.

One of the temporary exhibits was that of  Ritsue Mishima’s. The thousand-year-old tradition of making glass in Venice, seen through the lens of Mishima’s Japanese culture, results in works forming a highly contemporary alphabet. All lit up in the dark space, these pieces were a vision.

We appreciated the wide-ranging breadth of art and styles represented throughout the space, many of which were hung on a backdrop of Fortuny fabrics.

What a rare and precious opportunity it was to visit these two Venetian palaces. We count our lucky stars every day to be doing what we love on a daily basis, and it is opportunities like these - so graciously provided by Modenus and their forward-thinking sponsors BLANCO America, Gessi, Clever Storage by Kesseboehmer, Dekton by Cosentino, the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), that continue to teach and grow us as designers and bloggers.

Image Credits: All photos taken by Krista Nye Schwartz of CLOTH & KIND. Link With Love, please.

We're Here!

We're in Venice, Italy (pinch us now!) where we're kicking off BlogTour Milan and it's already been a whirlwind 24 hours. If this is any indication of how the rest of this trip is going to be, we're in for the most intense travel pleasure of our lives.

The group of bloggers that Veronika Miller from Modenus has compiled for the inaugural BlogTour Milan trip is seriously killer. We already adore them, and can pretty much assure you that we'll all be best of buds by the end of this trip. BlogTour is, after all, kind of like a week at sleep away camp. Think total closeness, bonding in an unfamiliar yet fascinating new place, and rapid immersion in one another's lives all in a very condensed period of time and you'll get the picture. If you aren't already following this crew please do as they are a virtual wellspring of interior design goodness with wonderfully varying styles and tastes.

Pamela Copeman | Posh PalettesCarmen Natschke | The Decorating DivaHolly Hollingsworth Phillips | The English RoomJoann Kandrac & Kelly Kole | Kandrac KoleTamara Matthews Stephenson | Nest by TamaraLisa M. Smith | Decor GirlRobin Plaskoff Horton | Urban GardensEric Schimelpfenig | Sketch This

Since BlogTour doesn't officially kick off until Saturday evening at dinner, we opted to arrive a day early to allow ourselves the ability to adjust to the different time zone and to just have some free time to take in the beauty of Venice at our own pace. Turns out we weren't the only ones with the same bright idea. Holly, Pam and Robin were all here early too so we knocked around leisurely and had an absolutely lovely day yesterday. We fell hard & fast for Venice and with beauty every which way we turned it was quite literally impossible not to. Here are some of the things we have loved most so far...

Starting on Sunday, we'll be following this kick ass itinerary that Veronika and BlogTour Milan's gracious sponsors have put together for us. Sounds just about too good to be true (as written by Veronika), don't you think?

DAY 1 | TOUR OF VENICE We will be spending a full day touring Venice under the knowledgeable guidance of Cristina Gregorin of Slow Venice (special thanks for the introduction goes to Venetophile JoAnn Locktov) who has arranged for a visit to a private palace, a fabulous luncheon and a walking tour to see the endless treasures hidden in this most romantic place. Cristina has her doctorate in history and foreign languages, has been a certified guide for over twenty years and, as if that weren’t enough, focuses on sharing the real Venice in a tour that incorporates the history and contemporary stories of this singular city.

Our evening will be spent with BlogTour sponsor Clever Storage US at their showroom outside of Venice. We have their team to thank for our jaunt to Venice, so grazie tutti!

DAY 2 | HEADING TO MILANO A relatively short train ride will take us through Vicenza, Verona, Brescia and Bergamo as we make our way to Milan. We promise to perfect the pronunciation of these and many other Italian cities before we return. Wine, we are told, helps in this endeavor.

The Art Hotel Navigli in Milan

To make the transition from Venice to Milan as gentle as possible, we found a hotel on a canal in Milan. The Art Hotel Navigli is located in the eponymous area of Milan that is known for it’s many bars, design shops, art galleries and antiques markets and we’re quite confident our team will have a great time after a hard day’s work.

Our friends and BlogTour sponsors BLANCO are taking us out for classic Milanese dinner at Osteria di Brera.

DAY 3 | SALONE DEL MOBILE Our first full day in Milan will indeed be spent hard at work with a design filled day at Eurocucina, as we meet with our sponsors Gessi, Cosentino, Blanco, Clever Storage and the NKBA in addition to exploring other parts of this gigantic trade show.

Because the show is so big we’ve decided to let the team divide and conquer during the day and reconvene on the hotel terrace after dinner for drinks and sharing of design finds. By the way, every team member will select 3 Top Design Finds for the tour which we will publish on Modenus' BlogTour page.

DAY 4 | TOUR OF MILAN, VIA TORTONA AND A FABULOUS EVENING Our fourth day allows us a bit of breathing room and we’ve offered an optional guided tour of the sites in Milan or our team can take the morning off and sleep, shop or explore more design.

A must see in Milan, Duomo di Milano

We will meet everyone for a cool gelato, courtesy of NKBA CEO Bill Darcy before wandering over to Via Tortona Design District which is only a stone throw from our hotel. Here we will find narrow streets, teeming with design lovers and lots of shops and showrooms that are participating in the festival.

Our evening will be spent at Cosentino’s VIP dinner followed by a drink or two at the fabulous Trussardi alla Scala.

DAY 5 | GESSI AND AN AFTERNOOON WITH A DIVA Ending our whirlwind tour on a number of high notes, we will spend the morning touring the Gessi showroom in Brera, followed by a lunch with the Gessi team, “somewhere in the neighborhood”.

Part of our afternoon is free to explore Brera and we look forward to seeing our friends at Design Junction and also at Spazio Pontaccio.

Set against the historic backdrop of Palazzo Morando, in the heart of Milan’s fashion district, EDIT by Design Junction is set to be the premier destination with more than 20 global brands showcasing quality, authentic design across all design disciplines.

Spazio Pontaccio will exhibit live, chef served dining scenes in its windows to amuse passers by.

And then….we meet up with none other than the grande dame of antiques’ tours, the Diva, the one and only Antiques’ Diva Toma Clark Haines for a tour of shops in Brera that ends in, what else, a visit to La Scala followed by the classic Milanese version of Happy Hour, Aperitivi.

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How's THAT for an itinerary?! Veronika, you've outdone yourself!

Lastly, we wanted to sincerely thank the wonderful sponsors of BlogTour Milan who have made this all possible. We're excited to see some of the friends we made at BlogTour LA again, like Gessi & Blanco, and to meet the new sponsors Dekton, Cosentino, NKBA and Clever Storage.

Please stay tuned to Modenus' BlogTour for live feeds from all of the bloggers on this trip. For now, bella notte!

Neisha Crosland

what is your idea of perfect design happiness? HAVING A WHOLE DAY IN MY STUDIO WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPTIONS.

 what is your greatest fear in design? HAVING TOO MANY MEETINGS.

 which historical design figure do you most identify with? POPOVA THE RUSSIAN PAINTER ( 1889-1924 ) HAS BEEN A MENTOR FOR ME SINCE THE AGE OF 17 YRS OLD.

which living designer do you most admire? ARCHITECT LUIS BARRAGAN AND LANDSCAPE GARDENER FERNANDO CARUNCHO.

what profession other than design would you like to attempt? TOO LATE NOW BUT A DANCER OR PIANO PLAYER.

what is your greatest design extravagance? PRINTING ON A £500 A METER CASHMERE THEN BOILING IT TO MAKE IT SHRINK TO SEE WHAT THE EFFECT WOULD BE.

when and where were you happiest with your design? AT THE MOMENT I CRACK THE REPEAT PARTICULARLY WITH WALLPAPER.

what do you consider your greatest achievement in design? THAT I AM STILL AT IT 30 YRS LATER.

if you died and came back as another designer or design object, who or what do you think it would be? CONCORDE.

what specific design related talent are you lacking that you would you most like to have? TO BE ABLE TO DRAW AND PAINT LIKE THE MARIA GARTHWAITE AND JAMES LEMAN BOTH LATE 17TH EARLY 18TH SPITALFIELD LONDON TEXTILE DESIGNERS.

what is your most treasured design related possession? MY SKETCHBOOKS.

 what do you regard as the lowest depths of misery in design? CONFORMING.

what curse word do you most frequently use? BLOODY HELL.

what is your favorite design related word? ELEGANT.

what is your least favorite design related word? COOL / TRENDY /SEXY.

what turns you on in design? A NEW ANGLE THAT IS BEAUTIFUL.

 what turns you off in design? TRYING TO BE TOO CLEVER AND BAD DRAWING.

what is your motto in design? KEEP IT FRESH AND EVERY LITTLE PART HAS TO BE BEAUTIFUL.

// IMAGE CREDITS | All images provided by Neisha Crosland. Portrait of Neisha taken by Kristin Peres.

ABOUT PROUST ON DESIGN | Answered by our design icons, these must-ask questions come from a 19th century parlor game made popular by Marcel Proust, the French novelist, essayist & critic. Proust believed the direct questions and honest responses that they elicited revealed the true nature of the individual. For this column, we have put a design related spin on the traditional questions. While this method has been used by many journalists throughout the years, we were primarily inspired by The Proust Questionnaire, which appears monthly on the back page of one of our all time favorite magazines, Vanity Fair (also Krista’s alma mater). Read all of the previous Proust on Design questionnaires here.

Role Models: Chloé + Place

FASHION | Chloé  + FABRIC | Place Textiles

Place Textiles' Mt. Stuart fabric, which only comes in this pure natural white, has long been one of our favorite textiles. Its nubby, soft texture is an experience in and of itself and just like this Chloé piece from their Fall-Winter 2014 runway, it stands alone in its stunning simplicity.

No. 31

We're feeling all spring-like. Can ya tell by our fabric selections, perhaps?!

RIGHT | Jax in Pink/Green by Tilton Fenwick for Duralee (#21084) LEFT TOP | Crillon Linen in Quartz by Suzanne Kasler for Lee Jofa (#2011136.17) LEFT BOTTOM | Gitana in Blue by Kathryn M. Ireland (#2703)

Couldn't resist adding the Waterlogue version too... just because it's so darn pretty.

Happy weekend, guys!