A Gorgeous Giveaway from Tata Harper!

Spring really is showing of these days, isn't she? All this rain is bringing some beautiful blooms to life in the garden, the sun is starting to win out over the clouds, and the temperatures are finally starting to climb. Makes you feel fresh and a little bit more alive, doesn't it?

Well, why not have skin that matches the freshness of the season? You've heard me RAVE about my love for Tata Harper Skincare, and I am beyond excited to be able to offer you the opportunity to win some for yourself!! Tata has generously offered to send one of you lovely readers of The Curated House a Deluxe Beauty Set!!!

This set contains all the essentials you will need to get your skin gorgeous and glowing for Spring! Included are: The Rejuvenating Cleanser, The Hydrating Floral Essence, The Rejuvenating Serum, The Rebuilding Moisturizer, The Repairative Moisturizer, The Replenishing Nutrient Complex, and The Resurfacing Mask!

These generous, travel-sized vials are the perfect way to indulge in experiencing the complete line, and trust me, your skin will thank you!!

OK, so here's how you can enter to win:

1. Pin this post to Pinterest using the description: #gorgeousgiveaway via The Curated House + Tata Harper Skincare.

2. Tweet this post out to your followers on Twitter using the hashtag #gorgeousgiveaway via @CuratedHouse + @TataHarper.

3. Like The Curated House and Tata Harper Skincare on Facebook.

3. Post this Giveaway on Facebook using the hastag #gorgeousgiveaway and tag The Curated House and Tata Harper Skincare in your post.

4. Pin the Tata Harper Skincare product you are most excited about to Pinterest {use the links above} and include the hashtag #gorgeousgiveaway via @CuratedHouse + @TataHarper.

5. Leave a comment below this post with links to all your #gorgeousgiveaway social media frenzy! Each Pin, Tweet, Like and Post equals an entry for this GORGEOUS GIVEAWAY!!!

Talk about a multitude of ways to win! This giveaway closes June 6th, 2013, so you've got 2 full weeks to Post, Tweet and Pin it up! This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada only. Can't wait to announce the lucky winner!!!

xo
s.

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Design Find | Far & Wide Collective

As you know by now, I am deeply passionate about process. When the way a product is made honours the people making it and - even better - contributes significantly to improving their way of life and the lives of those in their community, I get very, very excited. That is the kind of leverage I would love to see happening all the more in our growing global design economy. Gratefully, today's Design Find is a company with just such a vision.

Finding beauty in places afflicted by war, oppression and poverty, Far and Wide Collective (FWC) launched yesterday, bringing exquisite traditions and culturally-inspired design to Western buyers. Through its carefully curated website, FWC partners with talented artisans from post-conflict and emerging economies to unearth hidden gems – sharing home décor, fashion and jewelry with an international audience. “FWC is proud to help build bridges to create a more cohesive global community and a viable economic future for our artisan partners,” says founder Hedvig Alexander. “Over fifteen years working in development in conflict zones, including seven in Afghanistan, I have seen firsthand the most effective growth opportunity for women and marginalized groups is through sustainable businesses with access to international markets.” According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), handmade crafts are the second largest sector of rural employment in much of the developing world. With such rich cultural traditions and craft skills in almost every household, developing countries account for 60 percent of the world’s total exported creative goods, according to USAID. By providing access to international markets, marketing support, business guidance and training, FWC aims to support the growth of this sector as a key driver of economic development, especially for women. “With an influx of big box retail chains and growing questions about the true nature (and safety) of production in the developing world, we are seeing a backlash against mass produced goods,” Alexander observes.  “Consumers want unique items made responsibly by individual artisans: our mission is to bring them these products.” About Far and Wide Collective Far and Wide Collective (FWC) is a sustainable digital marketplace created to connect low-income craftspeople with consumers through art, design and humanitarianism. FWC partners with some of the most talented artisans in emerging economies, building bridges to open the way to a better future for its artisan partners. I hope you get as excited about this as I do! I am grateful for visionaries like Hedvig Alexander who are developing beautiful products through a beautiful, meaningful process that truly makes a difference. In a world desperately in need of positive change, this kind of compassionate, dignifying and elevating business is the kind I want to have on my radar! xo s.

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The Curated Collection | Edith Maybin

I hope you will indulge me for a moment, but I have to brag. It is the best kind of bragging, I think, for it is about the fabulousness of a good friend and today's Curated Collection featured artist. Even though her artwork has been collected by the likes of Sir Elton John and shown in the Louvre in Paris, she still likes to have me over for tea. She is one of those rare birds with whom you can laugh until your ribs hurt, talk about what is most on your heart, and then get outrageously girly. And she also happens to be the rather brilliant and internationally renowned fine art photographer Edith Maybin.

I still remember receiving letters from her while she and her ever-so-talented husband were doing their Masters in Fine Art together in Wales. She would send them written into the pages of fab UK decor and interior design magazines - deliciously secret messages awaiting my discovery. The first document in her body of work was created at the end of that two years of secret messages.

For some artists, each body of work they produce is its own entity. With Edith's work, each body of work builds upon the story that she has been telling in the previous series, a delving deeper into the relationship she has been exploring from the beginning. Her work is quite holistic - like chapters being written into a larger volume - and so I simply must start by sharing a few pieces from her earlier documents before sharing her latest series with you.

THE TENBY DOCUMENT

At first glance, the gorgeous use of natural light, the intrigue of a beautiful woman sitting in a chair, and the interest of the historical house in which these photographs are shot capture your attention.  But Maybin is exploring the much deeper theme of the relationship between a mother and daughter, and she does so with stirring, even haunting, success.

Portraits of Maybin's body {dressed in practical Marks and Spencer's undergarments} and her then-five-year-old daughter's head are captured and later digitally reassembled so that the two become one. Their interplay - their storytelling and movement and beauty and stillness - all become woven into one form. The exploration of a daughter's identity through playing dress up in her mother's things; the beauty and terror in seeing oneself in your own child; the intertwining of generations; all of these concepts are artfully explored and expressed.

THE CONVERSION DOCUMENT

In this second body of work, Maybin explores the thin veil between consciousness and dreaming. She sets up a "stage" of sorts in her home and - over a week long period - photographs her daughter while she is sleeping. The mother-daughter bond of playing dress-up is once again explored as Maybin then wears outfits which are chosen by her daughter the night before for the self-portraiture portion of each image. The visual merging of her daughter's head onto her own body completes each image and the deeper statement therein.

THE GARDEN DOCUMENT

I resonate with the honest struggle of individuality and independence that is visually expressed in this third series. With her daughter's now older face transposed on Maybin's body, the two are now even more believable as one form, and yet there is a clear sense of willful emersion - perhaps even escape - from the confines of corset and dress.

Within the beauty of The Garden Document, there is also a deeper sense of wrestling with what is yet to come.

THE GIRL DOCUMENT

Finally, we arrive at Maybin's latest series, in which the closely entwined yet individuating space between girl and woman, mother and daughter are explored. In this beautiful and somewhat jarring series, themes of sexuality, pain, coming of age and independence are revealed, perhaps exposing the dreams and fears of both mother and daughter.

The tumultuousness of adolescence is expressed in both the lucid detail and psychedelic swirl of the brilliantly photographed still life images. Visually, they are an unexpected mix of moody and jarring with a not-at-all-sacchrine dose of Sugar And Spice And Everything Nice. In this series, digital alteration has been set aside in favour of an innovative photographic technique which allows the controlled and uncontrollable to meet, achieving a troubling play with reality not unlike the double-mindedness of the transition these photographs represent. 

Maybin says, "these photographs continue the journey from the place of departure within the final images of The Garden Document. The external is left behind for an interior realm, the surface penetrated in search of the soul."

The introduction of the juxtaposition between artifice and the natural are timely - an honest commentary on the exploration and struggle common to most women, particularly in adolescence.

There is a sense that the young daughter we have met in Maybin's earlier series is disappearing into the uncertain beginnings of adulthood. Maybin's figure is no longer the canvas upon which her daughter's head appears. There is a maternal sense of letting go, a surrender to the age and stage of life which is upon them both. Her daughter's face only appears fleetingly and never in full form. The eddy of change and churn of impending independence is clearly written into the visual storyline, leaving us to remember, anticipate, or wrestle present day with this tension-filled, meaningful and metamorphic transition common to us all.

It is Maybin's courage in addressing such oft ignored themes - and her stirring success in doing so - that gives me such cause for admiration. In her work, I see myself and my own wrestling with being a mother and also a daughter; with nurturing whilst loosening my embrace to leave room for letting go. In this way I think we can all find something of our own story written into the chapters of Maybin's visually arresting novel.

xo
s.

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How To Get Published in a Design Magazine

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to share today's innovation! After working for more than 10 years as an interior designer, I can tell you that I believe this is a total game changer. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, let me introduce you to our lovely innovator herself. Friends, meet my truly brilliant friend, Lisa Ferguson.

Lisa has been working as an Interior Designer for thirteen years and has twenty four years experience in product design, manufacturing, sales and marketing. As a designer, Lisa is known for fundamentally enhancing her clients' quality of life through innovative space planning and personalized customization.

Collaboration and connecting others is in Lisa's DNA. In fact, you won't know her for very long before she is recommending a great person you should meet or a new product you should check out. Building on her instincts and passion, Lisa launched Decor Mentor a few years ago. Assembling a team of top international designers who were willing to be open and transparent, Decor Mentor's mission is to offer education and insight into the process of interior design from both a decorating and a business perspective. Peers across North America share both their success stories and pain points, and together innovate solutions to change the business of interior design.

Well, to say that Lisa's latest innovation will dramatically change the business of interior design is no overstatement. One of the most important methods of marketing in the industry has for decades been getting published in a design magazine. There is something extremely validating for a potential client in seeing your work in glossy print. Being published inevitably creates a steady stream of prospective clients and increases credibility in ways few other mediums can accomplish. The troubling reality, however, is that the percentage of designers who find themselves lucky enough to get published is remarkably small, making this highly leveraged form of marketing available to only an elite few. I myself have had more than one "almost published" moments where my project landed on the cutting room floor at the last minute. It's a "hold your breath and hope for the best" kind of holy grail of marketing. Until now.

Always one to go beneath the surface, Lisa pushed further into these needs in her countless conversations with fellow designers, architects and decorators as they discussed their marketing needs and challenges with her. Based on her own experience - and the shared experiences of many others - Lisa understood that educating potential clients on the true value interior designers and architects bring to a project - along with their unique value proposition - was critical to connecting with the right client fit.

And thus, Decor Mentor's custom magazine was born.

{click on "Open Publication" above to flip through Lisa's gorgeous online magazine}

Designers, Architects and Decorators can now take matters into their own capable hands by partnering with Decor Mentor to create their own custom magazine. Each professionally designed magazine is created exclusively around your firm's portfolio photographs. Each edition includes:

ONE: Digital version PDF for upload to issuu.com and your website.

TWO:  Print version high resolution PDF for optional digital printing, available to purchase directly from one of Decor Mentor's preferred printing vendors.

THREE: Strategic marketing guide on how to use your package for maximum benefit.

FOUR: Resource guide of printers and specifications {including quotes starting at $8 each for 200 copies from top quality digital printers and also 1 copy options} and interior photographers to help you get the best results for your money.

FIVE: Web quality individual Jpegs of each page for future online use at your discretion.

SIX: Magazine promotional graphic for email marketing campaigns including done-for-you copy to encourage sharing of your content.

SEVEN: Magazine promotional graphic for Facebook and other social media channels.

EIGHT: Modern or Transitional page template options for all pages to suit your firm's aesthetic.

NINE: Valuable and well-written articles educating readers on the value of the designer and celebrating craftsmanship. {With Marble and Onyx packages, you can edit the articles and/or submit your own.}

TEN: This one is HUGE. Each custom magazine includes NATIONAL ads and advertorials celebrating craftsmanship. Showcasing your portfolio next to full-page ads from high-end, recognizable brands provides you with that magazine-magic that was once so elusive! These ads also subsidize the cost of your edition. {Marble and Onyx package levels allow you to submit REGIONAL ads for powerful cross marketing.}

Lisa released Designers' Own Magazine at High Point Market this April to shouts of joy and literal tears of gratitude from designers who were overwhelmed with their understanding of the value this innovative offering provides. Current turnaround time is four weeks from the submission of photographs, and Lisa and her team are working quickly to refine that down to a lightning-fast two-week turnaround time.

In her constant quest to go above and beyond, Lisa also includes front and back cover files to turn into cases for your iPad and iPhone through gelaskins.com {see below} as well as additional files to leverage across social media channels.

Consider yourself fully equipped to leave your mark on social media, the internet and every doctor's office, law firm or specifically targeted spa or sports club in your area! Brilliant, customized, targeted marketing that will no doubt totally revolutionize your Interior Design Firm or Architectural Firm's business!

In the spirit of generosity, Lisa has chosen to extend a discount to you, my amazing readers. For those of you who would like to create your own highly leverageable, customized and professionally designed magazine, you can receive a 10% DISCOUNT now through May 15th! Just enter the code CURATEDHOUSE here and get started on creating the most powerful marketing tool you've ever used for your business. I genuinely can't wait to hear all your stories of outrageous success as you make your mark on the worlds of architecture, interior design and social media!


xo
s.

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At-Home Scandinavian Spa + Body Beauty Ritual

What is the one thing you often find yourself desperate for, yet elusive of your grasp? For me, it is deep, restorative rest. In a culture that demands we define ourselves by what we produce, it is difficult to justify {let alone facilitate} time to rest, reflect and heal. And yet, it is perhaps one of our most important life skills.

In this context, one of my favourite places to decompress is Le Scandinave. Surrounded by the whisper of the wind through surrounding birch trees and the gentle laughter of a nearby running stream - savoured against the backdrop of an "absolute silence" policy - guests are invited to restore through a repeated 3-step hot/cold ritual.

FIRST: Spend 15 minutes in something hot: the outdoor, organically-shaped hot tubs, the Swedish dry sauna, or {my favourite} the Eucalyptus Steam Room.

SECOND: {and this is both the hardest AND the best part} PLUNGE into one of their remarkably cold {think glacial} pools for anywhere from a few seconds to two minutes.

THIRD: Rest for at least 10 minutes in the recline of one of the Adirondak chairs that are carefully grouped around wood burning fires, scattered throughout the peaceful property. Nestle into a hammock on the edge of the woods. Read. Sleep. Breathe deeply as your heart rate slows down and your body temperature normalizes. And then, repeat steps 1-3.

I always come away from Le Scandinave breathing better. The "full body exhale" kind of breathing. I feel wrung-out and relaxed, detoxified and de-stressed. And my skin fairly glows. The only draw back to the experience is the 1+ 1/2 hour drive home afterward, and the limitation this distance places on the frequency of my returning.

And so, I have crafted my own little at-home ritual that I have found to be almost as restorative. I have enhanced it with two amazing products to make it a decadent Body Beauty Ritual that I try to indulge in once a week. Yes, it takes effort to carve out the time. But the decompression and detoxification are worth it.

{Image via Pinterest}

STEP ONE: If a sauna is available to you, I highly recommend starting there. We are fortunate enough to have a small infrared sauna in our basement, so I start my ritual with 30 minutes of reading while sweating out toxins, sipping water and breathing deeply, soothed by the sound of ocean waves on CD. I choose to do 30 minutes here because I want to soak up the amazingly healing benefits of the infrared heat, but I have also broken it up into two or three 15 minute cycles on the days when time permits. This step can simply be done in a hot bath with Epsom salts if a sauna is not available.

STEP TWO: Next {and this is certainly the discipline of it}, I turn our shower to the absolute coldest setting and use the hand-shower to "refresh" myself from head to toe, paying careful attention to get into armpits and backs of knees where the heat likes to hide out. This step is where my silence is inevitably broken with some "Woot!" "Yikes!" "Okay!" "Just Breathe."

STEP THREE: I start a very hot Epsom salt bath and lay down for 10 minutes while the bath fills. I use the 10 minute track on this restful nap CD as my timer.

STEP FOUR: Soak in the bath for 20 minutes while sipping water and relaxing.

{Spoiler alert: Steps Five + Seven are my favourite upgrades to the Le Scandinave experience, making this feel like a true at-home spa treatment.}

STEP FIVE: Using my Come Clean Exfoliating Mitt {pictured above}, I thoroughly exfoliate my body from head-to-toe. I am always amazed at how much dead skin gently rolls off with this magical mitt, leaving me with a radiant glow. My circulation is stimulated {amazing for detoxification and lymphatic drainage} and my skin is prepped for better absorption of the gorgeousness to come in Step Seven. This is my absolute favourite new {Canadian!!} body-beauty find.

STEP SIX: One more dose of discipline: a 1-2 minute ice-cold shower, washing off all of the exfoliated dead skin from head-to-toe.

STEP SEVEN: Massage a generous, moisturizing application of Tata Harper's Revitalizing Body Oil all over. This non-greasy oil infuses my skin with botanical nutrients derived from Calendula, Arnica, Frankincense, Rose and Apricot Kernel Oil {to name a few}. My thirsty skin gratefully drinks it in and absorbs it completely, leaving my skin refreshed, invigorated and deeply moisturized. The carefully blended ingredients aid in healing and cellular repair, improve my skin's elasticity and noticeably rejuvenate my freshly exfoliated skin. 

Amazingly, I have also discovered {thanks to a beauty tip from Tata's team} that the oil makes an incredible aid to shaving my legs, and I get the smoothest shave possible when I wait until after all of the detoxification and exfoliation! I now save this step in my bathing routine until after I have applied my oil.

Beyond all of that goodness, the scent is heavenly. I no longer wear perfume, in fact, but rather use Tata's Body Oil as my decadent scent of choice.

 

And there you have it! My At-Home Scandinavian Spa + Body Beauty Ritual. If you are looking for a way to treat your Mom for Mother's Day, here is what I would suggest. Buy her a Come Clean Exfoliating Mitt, a bottle of Tata Harper's Revitalizing Body Oil, and {if you live in the area} a day pass to Le Scandinave. She can reclaim the art of self-care by learning the healing hot/cold ritual at Le Scandinave and then bring it home to make it a regular routine! What a beautiful way to celebrate your Mom and offer her the opportunity to nurture herself the way she has nurtured you. And remember to nurture yourself while you're at it!

xo
s.

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Design Find | Élitis Wallpapers | The Pleats Collection

You may remember me saying yesterday that I have an insatiable appetite for art for many reasons, but it is in part because of the endless expression of uniqueness filtered through each individual artist. The journey of discovery is endless - visually, creatively and within oneself.

While I by no means place manufactured product into the same category as art, there are certain products that are something of an artform, with a history behind them that dates back through centuries of craftsmanship. Wallpaper is one such product, and I think the endless variation and innovation seen in this niche of the design industry is fascinating. Just when I think I've seen it all, someone comes up with an outrageous, jewel-encrusted paper or a new hand-painted technique that is jaw-dropping. From diversity of aesthetic, to diversity of process, to diversity of application, wallpaper will always interest me.

I stumbled upon a wallpaper recently that once again blew apart my paradigms of what is possible. I honestly can't remember where I first saw the room adorned with the eye-catchingly simple pleated wallpaper, but the texture drew me in and had me searching the web for the source immediately. And with that, today's Design Find! Élitis Wallpaper, The Pleats Collection.

A cross between a quilted wall and an origami art installation, the delicate folds in the wallpaper {above} provide a detailed and sophisticated relief, layering texture-upon-texture and interest-upon-interest.

The above paper from the collection is both delicate and modern, old world and edgy. I absolutely love it in the indigo for its boldly feminine statement.

How amazing are those little vertical folds? I would forever be running my hand across the wall, no doubt. A modern-day, edgy twist on traditional Rococo-esque wall panelling leads to dramatic yet whimsical results with this paper {above} bringing the feeling of a French pied-à-terre right into your own home. Délicieux.

What wallpapers have caught your fancy of late, and what do you think of this collection from France's Élitis? Wishing you an inspired Tuesday with at least one discovery that breaks apart your paradigms of what is possible.

xo
s.

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The Curated Collection | Claire Desjardins | The Evolution of a Painting

I have long been fascinated with process. Admiration quickly turns to curiosity for me, filled with a desire to understand the process that leads to the end product. This applies to countless forms - from furniture making to fashion to textiles to art. But perhaps nowhere is the mystery more mysterious to me than in the realm of fine art.

Even if we can see something of the process unfold, we can never understand it scientifically, for art is the laying down of an artist's heart onto canvas or photograph or sculpture or print. An artist's unique view to the world and their translation of it into a work of art is and always will be as one-of-a-kind as a thumbprint. Perhaps this is why my art addiction has such endless appetite.

"All of my work is an attempt 

to decipher the chatter in my head, 

to put forward a less awkward 

side of myself, to navigate 

through my everyday chaos 

towards calm." 

- Claire Desjardins

Today's inspiration is a voyeuristic entrée into the world of process, thanks to abstract painter Claire Desjardins. Her work entitled "Supersize" was the result of an unfettered month spent in artistic retreat at the Vermont Studio Center. Most gratefully, she documented the evolution of this massive piece.

The canvas is rolled out onto the floor to be cut.

An abstract road map is gesturally charted.

Bold and vibrant colour spaces are blocked out with great courage.

Daubs of paint are carefully placed into abstraction, a month-long labour of love and artistic vision.

"I poured each drop, 

saturated puddle by puddle, 

one at a time, layer upon layer, 

to create a fizzy sensation for the viewer, 

when standing in front of the work. 

I used thick blends of mostly pure colours, 

mixed with various polymer mediums, 

in order to create a plastic feeling, 

and one that makes you want to run your hand 

over the smoothe lumps and bumps 

that it caused across the giant sheet of canvas. 

Thick texture is very important to me, 

as is the shininess, 

and of course, 

the overall massive size."

The finished piece, a constellation of colour and texture.

Claire Desjardins comes from a long line of artists and grew up in Montreal, Canada. She worked for many years as a graphic designer and was ensconced in a life of technology and marketing. In 2011, she gave up the regular pay cheque to pursue her love of painting.

Interestingly, Claire recently signed an agreement with Warner Brothers, who will be using several pieces of her art in their upcoming feature film, "Winter's Tale" (scheduled to be released sometime in 2013).

Claire’s work can be found in both private and corporate collections around the world.

Wishing you an inspired Monday!

xo
s.

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