On the windy Friday evening of March 25th, 6 local designers/makers/artist-types (including Casa M of course) transformed Daniel Jau Jou's Jau Jou Studio hair salon into a little boutique filled with pillows and art prints, terrariums and incscribled metal pendants, nature-inspired jewelry, frilly panties and bold necklaces, colorful coin purses and totes made from salvaged materials with birds and other animals adorning them and haute couture clutches.

Daniel Jau Jou was the host with the most and made sure that nobody went thirsty or hungry while they were on his turf. And it wasn't just a good time, we also raised almost $500 ($495 to be exact) with a raffle that included lots of goodies donated by all of us designers. All the money we raise went to the Red Cross for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan.

Luckily the lovely Marissa Rocke took incredible photos of the event that were published along with this awesome article about the trunk show on Slow Fashioned - an online magazine that "goes beyond fashion to empower readers to slow down and make more educated shopping and lifestyle decisions. Instead of being wrapped up in consumerism, acquiring more stuff just to acquire more stuff; Slow Fashioned challenges you to reduce, reuse, and recycle and to join the slow movement." I could not be more on board with this philosophy if I tried. So I was really excited to get connected with Slow Fashioned and look forward to future opportunities for collaboration.

And don't forget to check out the article!

 

 

Tis the season to check out Casa M's freshest styles and gifty goodies for the holidays. A few folks have taken notice of Casa Murriguez's handmade housewares with style and conscience, and for this we are both grateful and happy to share what they've got to say.

First there was the Brown Alumni Magazine's 2010 Holiday Gift Guide that featured our brown skinny octopus flower tea towel and our 12"x20" yellow octopus flower pillow.

 

 

1, 2 ECO CHIC Sharon Murriguez ’00 prints organic fabric with water-based inks to make these cheery tea towels and throw pillows. Pillow $50;Tea Towel $18. www.casamurriguez.com (415) 948-6389. 

3, 4 BORN AGAIN Carole Ann Penney ’07 “upcycles” vintage shirts into aprons and turns the cuffs into luggage tags. Apron $20; luggage tags $8. www.connectthedotscrafts.com (802) 236-2290.

5 ITCHING TO KNIT? Make these school-spirit mittens designed by Julie Iselin Turjoman ’79. Her book, Brave New Knits, gathers knitting patterns from the blogosphere. Mitten pattern $5. www.julieturjoman.com (212) 808-1684.

 

 

Casa M also got some love from Daily Candy on Friday, November 19th in a write-up about Shana Astrachan's pop-up shop featuring her jewelry and treats from local designers including Casa M. We've got art prints, postcards and gift tags/ornaments in this oh so fine little shop in the Mission.

 

We had a total blast in Kelseyville, CA this past weekend at the two-day Harvest Festival at the Steele Winery.  We sold a bunch of cool Casa M goodies including two new offerings -- the Casa M "Around Town Tote Bag" and Casa M "Decorative Festive Banners."  We had just been in Kelseyville a couple of weeks ago at the Pear Festival in downtown where we got a warm reception and we were happy to see some of the same faces come out and say hello again this past weekend!

Why Kelseyville you ask?  Well, Eric spent many of his formative years there and his parents -- Mama Bird and Papa Bird West -- still live there.  So it was great to have a home base and lots of willing help in setting stuff up and taking it all down.

Here are some photos from the Harvest Festival and the newest iteration of the Casa M booth.  I was really happy with our set up this time around...though admittedly, it changes a little every time.  And some of the shows we have coming up (including the one this Sunday, October 17th in Hayes Valley -- the RAG Designer Sale in conjunction with the Capsule Design Festival) have smaller or odd booth sizes so we will be forced to get creative and use space wisely!  We will let you know how it goes....

A full booth photo from the Harvest Festival at the beginning of Day 1!




A view from under the tent at the Casa M booth -- Harvest Festival




Casa M's tea towel display




Casa M's new totes!