Eco-Partnership with French Quarter Linens

Saturdays are always good days in which to receive news ... especially news that is exciting in nature.

But this story goes back to its origins on Thursday.

See ... I found myself wandering into this incredibly amazing shop in the Pearl District of Portland.

An exquisitely lovely bedding and bath shop called French Quarter Linens.

I wandered in with the intention of talking to them about certified organic cotton sheets.
'Cuz there's this company that I work with that creates some incredible fabrics that would be to.die.for as a set of sheets ... and ... I know a seamstress.  Personally.

Never even got to mention the subject ... I was sidetracked by the incredible tranquility, the soft music, the vibrant colors, and the luxurious textiles found at every glance ... in every nook and cranny of that glorious store!

I was swept away to Wonderland ... 

And then ... I saw the display cabinets filled with sample fabrics ... swatches of every imaginable textile any one could wish to have created into one form of amazingness or another, for the personal spaces within their homes.  The Creativity Muse made her appearance ... gave me the proverbial push toward the sales counter.

So ... I wandered up to the counter and had the opportunity to speak with a member of their Sales & Design Team.  I asked him what their store did with their textile samples once they were discontinued.

His answer met my surprise head on:  they threw them away.

!!!

In our subsequent conversation, I explained that I am a clothing designer, creating two clothing lines for next year's Baltimore FashionWeek.  Eco-friendly clothing lines.  He explained that his store was very eco-oriented; doing whatever they were able to reduce their overall ecological impact on the environment.

I offered to take their discontinued fabric samples to be used in my clothing creations ... in exchange for advertising that they will be a primary sponsor for Second Star Designs.

An Eco-Partnership.

In today's email, was a response that French Quarter Linens would love to work with us on this project!!!

Yay!!!

We're very excited ... we're helping to change the world ... one pretty, textile at a time  =)

My name is Caryn ... and I've been a Facebook User since 2008.

With the most recent changes implemented by Facebook this past week, I was disheartened to discover that the posts that I have been making on both my personal and business pages are no longer being shown to my total audience.

With over 300 followers on my Second Star Designs Fan Page, instead of each post being shown to 150 or more people ... now, only 20-30 people are seeing my posts.

And the automatic Twitter feed linking my FB Fan Page to my Twitter account has been deactivated.

In order for my potential customers to see anything that is posted on my Fan Page, Facebook now requires you to promote your post ... for a fee.

$7.00 per promotion.

Or ... you could pay for advertising ... a minimum of $1/day for pageviews.

Since Facebook went public, it was only a matter of time before they did away with the small business social media promotions ... requiring all businesses to pay for advertising on an otherwise "free" platform.

Times are a-changing.

And in a similar manner as the migration of MySpace users to the "new" social media platform known then as Facebook ... it's time to once again migrate to a new platform.

Diaspora.

It's Facebook + Twitter + MySpace ... without the game feeds.

I'm there.

Check it out ... www.diasp.org ... the future of social media  =)

Thoughts for Today ...

Here, at Second Star Designs, fashion is equally as important to us as the health of our people and our planet. We work hard to integrate our personal beliefs into our company's mission - when it's time to leave, make sure that what you leave behind is better than what you originally found. To that end, our 2013 children's and adult clothing lines will be hand-crafted using only refashioned or certified organic materials.

We have partnered with some amazing artisans to help bring our ideas to life. Harmony Art Organic Design is our primary sponsor of the certified organic cotton fabrics to be used in our Eco Art Wear Collection for Adults. Returning for 2013 will be Riley Blake Designs, providing us with the organic materials to be used in our B.F.F. [Biologically Friendly Forever] Clothing for Kids. We are proud to have these two textile manufacturers as an integral part of the Second Star family.


Because fashion is not just about clothing, we have also aligned ourselves with two accessories artisans whose outlook upon the world match that of Second Star. Joleen Taylor and Karen Davis Smith will be accessorizing both of our ecologically friendly clothing lines with their own interpretations of jewelry design, using only natural materials in their astonishing creations.


Being ecologically friendly is not simply a catch phrase or a passing fad, it's a fashion initiative trending its way into the hearts of our planet's people and way of life ... an initiative of which Second Star is proud to be a part.

Look for our designs gracing the runways of Baltimore in 2013!

500 Fan Drawing

Okay ... so the thing is ... we'd like to have a few more Fans.  It's that warm, fuzzy feeling we get when everyone loves us!  The business has been steadily growing and we're doing new things, exploring into uncharted waters, every single day.  And we are looking to reward one Lucky Fan!

So, here's the deal:  to kick off our Fall/Winter Season and celebrate our new online store, we're giving away a $50 gift certificate when we reach 500 Fans.  With the holidays right around the corner, we're pretty sure that an extra $50 in your pocket will go quite a ways toward your holiday gift list!

What's the catch?  Share our page with as many of your friends as you can.  When we reach 500 Likes, we'll enter all of the names and posted email addresses into the coolness that is Random.org.  Enter as often as you like, according to the guidelines below. One lucky Fan will receive a $50 gift certificate to be used for the purchase of anything in our store.

The "share" button's right over there ...

Good luck!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below. To receive extra entries, you can do any of the following:

• tweet out the link to this post, 
• share our store on Twitter,
• share a product from our store on Twitter
• become a Fan of Second Star Designs
• share our store on Facebook,
• share a product from our store on your Facebook page 
• share the link to this post on Facebook,
• pin an item from our store on Pinterest
• make a purchase in our store - 1 entry for every $10 spent

... then come back here and leave a comment telling us where we can see what it is that you did. Entries will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. PDT on Thursday, December 20th, and the winner will be chosen by random.org on December 21, 2012.  No purchase is necessary to win =)

Housecleaning

We just received news that the organic fabrics that we'll be using for our Eco Art Wear Collection to be showcased on the runway during 2013 Baltimore FashionWeek have shipped.

Yep ... they're on their way!

Beautifully amazing textiles from Harmony Art Organics.

It's all I can do not to recreate that old Mervyn's commercial ...

you know ... the one where the woman's face is pressed against the glass and she's saying "open.  open.  open."

except in my case, I'll be the one with my face pressed up against the living room window, scouring the streets with eyes like glazed donuts, quietly repeating over and over "U.P.S.  U.P.S.  U.P.S."

Patience is supposed to be a virtue ... I don't have any.

And I'm okay with that  =)

I order to be patient, I need to fill my time with other things ...

like making stuff ...

and spiffing up the website ...

and organizing ...

yep.  cleaning.

Gotta make room for those 110" wide cotton fabrics that will be here by the 1st.

and today seems a pretty good day to do it!

What do you do to pass the time while you're waiting for something else to happen or arrive?

Our Main Ingredient is Love!

We are currently directing the company into having a more ecologically aware and environmentally friendly product base ... changes such as these will take time to blossom into something incredibly amazing ... and we won't be excluding anyone with the new direction of our clothing designs. We will always be searching for the best possible options in materials from which to create our products for our customers.

Our raincoats & umbrellas will continue to be a staple product until a better material is available from which to create them. In fact, our entire 2012 clothing line was sourced from 100% cotton, organic knits, or bamboo/cotton blend fabrics. Not a single textile was synthetic ... already a positive ecological footprint.  Over the course of the next few years, we will be switching over our fabrics from the conventional textiles used in our garments to fabrics that are more organic in nature and better for the environment ... better for the people who choose to wear our garments.

That is not to say that the products we currently make are not good for you ... because they are.  The main ingredient which goes into each garment made by Second Star Designs is LOVE ... which is an ingredient that you won't find in any big box store ... and an ingredient that turns any negative vibration or aspect of the materials used into one that is positive ... one that you will love just as much as we do!

As we move into 2013 we will continue to create those products which you have come to know and love ... improving them as we are able, at a price that is reasonable for everyone ... and wrapping them up with a generous sprinkling of Love ♥

Harmony Art Organics & Second Star Pair up for Baltimore FashionWeek 2013

We're pretty excited around here ... okay, over-the-moon excited!!!

First off ... we've been invited back to participate in 2013 Baltimore FashionWeek.  With two collections.

That's right ... TWO!!!

Riley Blake Designs will be returning as a sponsor for our children's clothing line with their incredibly brilliant cotton fabrics & laminates.

Our second collection will feature an entire line of clothing designs for grown-ups ... created entirely of organic and eco-friendly materials.

Harmony Art Organic Designs has graciously accepted our sponsorship offer ... incredible fabrics from an incredible company that is doing all the right things with regard to making a difference in changing the world.

Only a month home from showcasing on the runway our 2012 collection ... and already, we're gearing up for 2013.

More collections ... and hopefully, more showcases at one or two more FashionWeek events.
It's just the beginning ... the future is the brightest star in the sky!


If you're interested in participating as a sponsor of Second Star Designs for 2013 ... or know of anyone who might be, please send us a message ... we'd love to talk with you!

~C