Whew…. it has been a whirlwind of activity at my design table.  I just wish I could clone myself to create a production line!  It’s finally done… the Spring 2013 Leather Jewelry and Accessories Line.  I have expanded my design process to include  a few necklaces, earrings, smartphone cases and card cases.  Please take a peek at my post to see what I have been doing.  You can always come back for a second look by visiting the PlanetDwell Lookbook Page on this blog. I have not listed pricing yet for the Spring Line.  I will be setting up an Etsy Shop where purchasing is readily available.  If you can’t wait for me to get the hamsters spinning their wheels in my computer, you can contact me directly for pricing and details.  Last but not least, I would like to thank my beautiful muse, Courtney for helping me photograph the new line!

Large, Italian, sliding table saws can be useful when making big, mitered (angled) joints. This is the leg of a bench that we are building from reclaimed fir wood. When set up right (that can take me almost an hour), the accuracy of the cut is pretty awesome.

The Sunset House is an absolutely gorgeous cabin in West Virginia, built entirely from reclaimed woods and frames from junkyards by the owners Lilah and Nick.

Product Description

18″H x 50″W x 25″D. 18″H x 50″W x 25″D.

Product Feature

• 18″H x 50″W x 25″D.

Tag : @$Upton Coffee Table, 18Hx50W, RECLAIMED, $Upton Coffee Table, 18Hx50W, RECLAIMED,#Upton Coffee Table, 18Hx50W, RECLAIMED, *%Upton Coffee Table, 18Hx50W, RECLAIMED ]]> http://uptondesk31hx58reclaimedc3sale.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/upton-desk-31hx58w-reclaimed/ Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:54:09 +0000 worthyfxn202ss12 http://uptondesk31hx58reclaimedc3sale.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/upton-desk-31hx58w-reclaimed/ May have reduced the price now. for >Upton Desk, 31Hx58W, RECLAIMED. yes, we have”>Upton Desk, 31Hx58W, RECLAIMED” here. You can buy >Upton Desk, 31Hx58W, RECLAIMED Shops & Purchase Online.

Product Description

30″H x 48.5″W x 24″D. 30″H x 48.5″W x 24″D.

Product Feature

• 30″H x 48.5″W x 24″D.

Tag : @$Upton Desk, 31Hx58W, RECLAIMED, $Upton Desk, 31Hx58W, RECLAIMED,#Upton Desk, 31Hx58W, RECLAIMED, *%Upton Desk, 31Hx58W, RECLAIMED ]]> http://dressersfurniture.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/soma6drawerdresser-soma-6-drawer-dresser-in-reclaimed-teak-and-mindi-wood-sale/ Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:59:46 +0000 carloshudnall http://dressersfurniture.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/soma6drawerdresser-soma-6-drawer-dresser-in-reclaimed-teak-and-mindi-wood-sale/ http://dfcblog.com/2013/04/09/new-dfc-product/ Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:00:53 +0000 designerflowercenter http://dfcblog.com/2013/04/09/new-dfc-product/
Only 1 more day until our Grand Re-Opening Event on April 11th! We thought we’d share some of the new and exciting things that DFC is celebrating! If you’ve seen our newly designed showroom you may have noticed that we have started to carry some newer products than what you would usually find in our store. DFC is already known for our flowers, floral supplies, interior design decor, and even outdoor garden decor. Now you can find some great gift items, amazing furniture pieces, kitchen supplies, lighting fixtures and more!! Take a look and come by and see us!

Please join us for this amazing celebration that we are so excited to share with our customers, old and new! Invite your friends and family, tell everyone about Designer Flower Center and come out to this Grand Re-Opening Event! We can’t wait to see everyone!

Visit our website www.designerflowercenter.net

LIKE us on Facebook for regular updates

Check back here for updated blog posts

And sign up to receive an email when we update our blog!

We are excited to host a Grand Opening celebration this Friday, April 12th from 4-8pm at our new shop at 16237 SW Railroad St. in Sherwood (see the map at the right)!

Join us for light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments while browsing – and buying! – our latest vintage and upcycled furniture.

If you’re not able to stop by Friday, we’ll be open on Saturday and Sunday too!

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Product Description

24″H x 24″ square. 24″H x 24″ square.

Product Feature

• 24″H x 24″ square.

Tag : @$Upton Side End Table, 24Hx24W, RECLAIMED, $Upton Side End Table, 24Hx24W, RECLAIMED,#Upton Side End Table, 24Hx24W, RECLAIMED, *%Upton Side End Table, 24Hx24W, RECLAIMED ]]> http://jakobbelbin.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/belbin-and-michalec/ Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:34:42 +0000 jakobbelbinblog http://jakobbelbin.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/belbin-and-michalec/ #gallery-1809-2 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1809-2 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1809-2 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1809-2 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

PRIVATE VIEW ../. ARPIL 16th 6:30PM . . .. ./. Painting pottery Cafe, BRIGHTON, BN1 1YB

The ‘mom’ jean is fast becoming a favourite on the high street, with brands like Topshop championing this retro shape. Think late 80s/early 90s in shape, so high waisted and a little baggy, but with a straight leg. It’s sort of like a boyfriend jean, but if you stole them from your mother and not your boyfriend. And yes I do realise that’s some pretty pathetic logic/explanation but we’re all about the jeans right now so let’s not quibble. DON’T BE AFRAID. THIS JEAN IS YOUR FRIEND. At least it can be, if you embrace the look and werk it gurl (and yes that spelling was necessary also).

Topshop is LOVING this jean in a big way, and I’m sort of loving their love of it. I’m a big fan of the slightly mottled jeans (last pair) because these can work for winter and summer, which are apparently the same thing these days (thanks English weather). Alternatively, the light denim will be perfect for the ‘warmer’ months! Note that Topshop has styled theirs with a heavier shoe – I like this look as I feel it’s an androgynous style that can be comfortable and easy to throw together. I would pair these jeans with a tee on top or a Brokeback (chequered) shirt for maximum impact on a masculine look. That’s probably one of those styles that boys hate because it involves you looking like a schoolboy, but that’s just how we’re doing it these days!

Now, I know these can be a little scary – you don’t want to end up looking like a hefer. I get it. Follow my top tips for a sassy take on the ‘mom’ jean

• Even if this is typically a daytime look, you can work it with a casual heel to add some femininity – this will work perfectly with the high waist to elongate your legs, and I like the contrast between the bagginess and the refined heel
• Tucking in tops is GOOD because it will give you some definition – again, like heels, it will add some femininity
• Rolling the bottom up is a good thing because it gives the jeans some sort of direction or shape – they turn into a slight skinny at the ankle, which is great for, again, adding some definition!

Here are a few more of my favourites!! Now go out there and work these jeans like the rent is due! Ya hear me?

L-R: Reclaimed, Levi, Denim and Supply by Ralph Lauren, 7 For all Mankind

Much like the vortex that is Pinterest, I could spend hours on there. And this week I decided to share my Top Finds in case you might wanna purchase the goods alongside me, tell them Paulamento sent ya! (Click the links under the photos to find the exact item or just the shop, I could write a post highlighting the goods each individual shop – they’re all that classy!)

1. Sassy Throw Pillow for $38 at Michelle Dwight Designs

2. Ship photo for $30 at Hotel Des Images nautical shop.

3. The Perfect Desk for a designer like moi for $415 (and just 29 bucks shipping, OMG!) from Chicago, made out of reclaimed wood at Urban Wood Goods.

4. One-of-a-Kind Vintage Watch for $180.00 at metaletlinnen (They’re from Korea, whaaaat?!)

5. Game of Thrones Tank for $27 at Fencing & Archery Printing Co. New workout tank anybody??

6. Gentle Reminders Pencils for $12 at AmandaCatherineDes

So, here’s where I am.  Either today or tomorrow, I’ll be posting it for sale.  I think I’m just gonna list it on Craigslist.  I would really like to be able to post it somewhere it will be more appreciated, but for now I don’t feel I have enough inventory to open a shop on Etsy, and I definitely don’t feel like screwing around with Ebay yet.  Besides, I need more stain, polyurethane, and a few other things that I simply don’t have the money for right now.

My wife ran into an interior designer that said I should be able to make $500.00 easily from these two items, if sold together.  That would be amazing!  There are so many things I need to get for the shop that are unfortunately low on the list of priorities right now.  Five hundred would be a game changer for sure.

On the plus side, all the hard work with this project is done.  As I write this, the top to the coffee table is outside with the second to last coat of finish drying.  One more coat and a couple small tweaks, and it’s completely ready to go.  What’s more, because I took the time I wanted on it, I’m not nervous about putting my name behind it.

I’m going to be kind of sad to see these go.  They fit with our current living room decor very well.  Truth be told, when I started redoing these tables, I had planned on keeping them.  Fingers crossed for continued progression, I suppose.

Also, if you’re interested, I uploaded a quick two minute time lapsed video of part of the process of carving the center section of knot work to my Youtube channel.  You can see it here.

To purchase items below or any goods found on included links, please contact me for price quote and lead times at :

jkern@designtheoryinteriors.com

I like this chair because it’s a nice comfortable piece but the natural finish legs, tiny nailheads and the ticking fabric say cozy.     by Halo Styles

Wonderful Swedish clock.  Comes in several washed colors.  by Halo Styles

This is a fun diversion.  Regency style front with reclaimed wood frame and zinc-covered drawers.    Also by Halo Styles

Pine Chest with metal frame.  Great cup-style hardware.  Also by Halo Styles

Fun Teak stool can serve as a stool or side table.  I like being able to see the naturally occurring imperfections in the wood.   by Interlude Home

Who can resist a multi-colored southwestern-style Ottoman.  Big enough to be a cocktail table if you used a tray for drinks.   by Interlude Home

Great Iron legs on this hide-covered stool!!    Also by Interlude Home

You can always find space for one or two fo this little ottomans!

by Interlude Home

Iron Scissor Small Dining Table.  Could also be a great console table with a lamp on it.     by The Old Wood Co.

Beautiful Houdini Expandable Dining Table.  Has 3 leaves that allows it to expand to 96″ long.    by The Old Wood Co

Monford Cocktail table.   Made in pecky cypress from the florida swamps.  The irregular grain and growth patterns are spectacular!    by The Old Wood Co

This is where our options have in the past been limited.   So you have a nice rustic space but what do you do with the TV?    Now, The Old Wood Company has created options for media cabinets and for mud rooms.   And these are available in other sizes as well.

OK, you have to admit these would be fun.  Steel legs and back are formed to create a faux bois look.  Also in bar height.   by  The Old Wood Co

Wine storage rack with pouring shelf!       by The Old Wood Co

Couldn’t resist showing this small bar set.  Loved the metal pedestal legs of the stools that form a root pattern.   Also by The Old Wood Co

The church now sits isolated and alone amongst the sheep and the steady trickle of visitors most of whom seem to park on the road, walk to the church and then back to their cars to drive off without stopping.  I found the atmosphere there quite compelling and was really struck by the amazing silence that surrounds the place.

The sign on the gate says that the Church key is available at the nearest house.  I was very happy to find the large key hanging next to the back door of said house.  No security, just a small note saying to please replace the key after use – wonderful.  And it was a fine looking key too!

There has been a church on this site since the 13C but all the associated houses have long gone.  The existing church structure was restored in about 1910 after it had become virtually derelict so all the exterior brickwork and roof is from that date which gives it quite a early 20C feel but the interior has certainly retained some of the original timbers.  It also has some marvellous (and very recently painted) box pews, a fine split pulpit and a lead font but I guess even taking these into account the best thing about this church is without doubt it’s location which is utterly unique.

“And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”  – Genesis 2:18, KJV

Help meet.

My Bible – an English Standard Version – reads “a helper fit for him” but my King James roots still chime in my mind.

You were created to be a help meet.

Which, growing up, meant that I would be a helper to my one-day husband (Because good Christian women get married, right?  Because that is half of the highest calling on our lives as women – to be a wife – right?)

Help meet.  Make the home, cook the meals, keep up with your husband’s schedule, a secretary for life of sorts, right?  This is God’s plan for women, or so many of us have been taught.

In John Piper and Wayne Grudem’s iconic collection of essays Reclaiming Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Dorothy Patterson, professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary writes:

“Keeping the home is God’s assignment to the wife, – even down to changing the sheets, doing the laundry, and scrubbing the floors.”

But I can’t help but wonder…

Man and woman were created and placed in a garden to live, correct?  A perfect, flawless, garden.

Man and woman were created naked and lived shamelessly so before the fall.

This is what the Genesis narrative describes for us.

Eve was the first woman.  The first wife.  God’s ultimate designs and desires for a woman must be applicable to her life just as God’s ultimate designs for man must be fitting for Adam as well.

If it doesn’t work in Eden, it won’t work now.

How in the world then could God’s high  calling – God’s “assignment” for a woman be to changing sheets, doing laundry and scrubbing floors?!

Perfect garden.

No beds.  No sheets. No floors.

Shamelessly naked.

Not a whole lot of laundry required for that one.

Not that I’m condemning housework or homemaking by any means – so please don’t read that into things.  Equally, I’m not condemning women who are homemakers – who find their delight and the fulfillment of their calling from God in their work (because it is work) within their home.

What I am saying is that there is more going on in this text.

There has to be.

This is not about God’s “assignment” to women, as if divvying up a chore list or household roles.  This is about the essence of being a woman.  Married, single, widowed, divorced what is a woman’s purpose.

Because, you see, “wife”, “mother” and “homemaker” while wonderful stations in life to hold appeal to a very small segment of society. Not all women are married, nor will they marry – and that is okay!  The number of years in which a woman can bear children is small, and the number of years in which she will actively be raising children is even smaller.  Children grow up.  As a mother, I will always be a mother, but my daughter will not always need me the way she does right now.   Moreover, for a very large number of women in this world the idea of being a full-time homemaker is a joke.  For the Mama’s in the third world, walking miles to the nearest source of potentially-clean water with their babies strapped to their backs – are they worried about scrubbing their (dirt) floors?  Is this God’s assignment to them?   For the women tired and dripping from 18 hour shifts in a sweatshop, barely making enough to feed themselves – is keeping their home on their minds?   For the rejected teenage runaway, living on the streets, trying to find herself and then her way home – does a call to wash the sheets woo her to her Creators heart?

There is something else going on here.

Something bigger.

We must learn to think bigger.

Humanity was made to reflect God’s image to God’s creation.

“In the Image of God God created them.

Male and female God created them.”

We cannot, however, portray the Image on our own. No single gender can advance or clarify the image of God to this broken and hurting world without the partnership of the other. 

The man needed “a helper.”
The word for “helper” here is the Hebrew word ezer.   Ezer is not an uncommon term; it appears numerous times in the Hebrew Scriptures as well as in the New Testament.

In the prophets – Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel – ezer is used in reference to military help.  Reinforcements in the heat of battle, the soldier next to you in the foxhole, the Ezer here is a strong warrior that comes alongside and helps you fight your battles.

Not just the one who washes your armor when you come home.
Sister Ezer, it is time to reclaim your strength.

Remember your sister Deborah who went with Barak into battle, and routed an army of 10,000 (Judges 4-5).

Remember your sister Jael who, when King Sisera fled that battle, finished off the mighty king when he lay resting in her tent.

Sister Ezer, rise up.

In other places Ezer is used to reference God Godself as the helper of Israel.  Passages like Psalm 33:16-20:

“The king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

The war horse is a false hope for salvation

And by it’s great might it cannot rescue…

Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our Ezer and our shield.”

Or this very familiar passage from Psalm 121:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills from where does my help – my ezer – come?
My help – my ezer – comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

Sister Ezer, it is time to reclaim God’s image within yourself.

Without you, the world only sees half of who God is, hears only half of what God would say to us.

You were made in God’s image.  You mirror half of that image to the world.  Without your presence at the table, your voice in the dialogue, we see an incomplete picture of who God is.

Sister Ezer, rise up.

Later in John, Jesus talks about the Ezer:

“I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper (Ezer) to be with you forever…The Helper (Ezer) – the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  (John 14:16, 26)

Sister Ezer, it is time to reclaim your life-giving, light-shedding, prophetic voice to our churches, our families, our society.

As the prophet Joel wrote in ages past: daughter – it is time to rise up and prophecy!

Speak the truth, call to light things that would rather stay in the shadows, cry out for the voiceless, shout it from the rooftops. God’s Spirit lives in and through you.

Sister Ezer, rise up.

The second part of the phrase that the King James rendered “help meet” is the word kenegdo, it literally means “in front of” and has this connotation of opposition almost.  Commentator Victor Hamilton describes Kenegdo as similar to polarities.  Woman is to man as the North Pole is to the South Pole.  Woman is the balance, the opposing force to the man.

It’s kind of like the poles of a tent.  Each end must be rooted and reaching up, pressing against the other side for the tent to stand.  If either end of the pole has more force or is given prominence, your tent won’t stand.  If either end is broken the tent won’t stand.  Both ends must be perfectly aligned, pressing in equal opposition to the other for the tent to stand.   And so it is with woman and man.   When one side pushes harder or is given more prominence, when one side is broken and bent, the tent in which God’s Spirit is to dwell and God’s image is to be revealed comes crashing down.

The evidences of this collapsed image are prevalent in the world today.  So many have come to view God as angry or abusive or removed or judgmental.  Women and children are being enslaved and trafficked at alarming rates.  Brokenness in secular and in Church systems abounds.

The answer is simple: where is the Ezer?

Secular non-profits, non-government organizations (NGO’s) and even the U.S. State Department are discovering this more and more.   When women in a community are empowered, given equal voice and equal rights, granted equal educational and economic opportunity then the whole community flourishes.   Research tells us that when you educate and empower a girl she will reinvest 90% of her potential future earnings into her family, as opposed to only a 35% investment from an educated boy.

They call it The Girl Effect.

And while these non-profits, government agencies and NGO’s are just now discovering this, it has been God’s plan all along.

 The Ezer Effect.

Because it is not good for a man to be alone.

Not because he needs someone to cook his meals, make his bed, and scrub his floors.
(Although, as stated earlier this can certainly be a part of Ezer life, and I certainly enjoy cooking dinner for my opposing force!)

It is not good for man to be alone because alone the Image of God is incomplete.  It is not good for man to be alone because this job of ruling, subduing, and caring for Creation is a big and complex one…too big and complex for one person and one gender.

So God made the man an Ezer.

The Ezer is strong.  The Ezer brings light and hope and revelation.  The Ezer is the prophetic voice that stands in front of the man on equal footing and reminds him whose Image they bear together.

Sister Ezer, rise up, the Church needs you.  The world needs you.

Reclaim your strength.  Reclaim your light.  Reclaim your voice.

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an Ezer Kenegdo .”

*********************************************************************

Carolyn Curtis James and Rachel Held Evans have both done wonderful work on this subject.  For further reading please check out their blogs, Rachel’s book A Year of Biblical Womanhood and Carolyn’s book Half the Church.

Image credits:
U.S. Army Korea (Historical Image Archive)
Greg Zenitsky
Hyperboreal
all via Flickr

Acrylic and Posca on Hardboard A3

]]> http://jakobbelbin.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/free-broken-plates/ Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:08:22 +0000 jakobbelbinblog http://jakobbelbin.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/free-broken-plates/ #gallery-1799-8 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1799-8 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-1799-8 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1799-8 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

The new pile of fragments ready to be distributed this week… . ././.. Look out Brighton./ .

Chainsaw milled mantle

I recently contacted my old High School with the idea of getting together with a group of textiles student to form a kind of ‘Pop-Up Design Studio’ where we would progress through all stages of the design and manufacture of garments to produce a small collection worthy of the high street. I received a reply with interest and it’s just a case of finding the time in a busy school being able to involve staff and students at the right time, possibly summer. So with a bit of luck this idea may go ahead at some point, and would be really great at engaging young people in practical applications of their textiles studies and industry knowledge gain.

Yesterday I spent the morning with a friend for her birthday and I treated her to a beauty treatment at my local salon. I got talking to one of the beauticians who started to tell me about a new TV series being aired on BBC call The Great British Sewing Bee. It had people completing tasks related to sewing and seemed to follow the typical reality show format of eliminating people one-by-one in stages, it sounded like a ‘Project Runway’ meets ‘Big Brother’ kind of programme, and while Big Brother has never filled me with any interest, I did enjoy Project Runway and would have enjoyed a UK version.

Later that day I found the programme re-run on BBC iPlayer and watched it. It essentially chose 8 contestants who had backgrounds in sewing and brought them in to complete sewing tasks under the watchful eye of two experienced judges, one being Saville Rows’ Patrick Grant and the other being May Martin from the WI, both experts in sewing and highly experienced and knowledgable. The contestants in the first episode had to make an A Line skirt and re-work the collar of a basic t-shirt and their offerings were scrutinised to the last detail by the judges, for sewing execution, and fit.

It was interesting to watch because what was so great about the contestants, was the fact that none of them had come from any formal training, no studying at CSM, RSA or related places, they had taught themselves later on in life or been involved in sewing from an early age and kept the interest up. the sewing overall was of a very high quality, higher than say many students such as myself coming out of fashion school, as we are taught DESIGN, and not how to be a seamstress.

My point is, I was encouraged by this show to first of all, carry on sewing and making for myself, forgetting high fashion and trends that dictate how we look, and also to really put some effort into my Make My Wardrobe sewing blog-zine, because we are slowly gaining our interests in learning to make for ourselves again. We are bored by the high street and sick of mindless TV viewing, and desire to be different and individual again, and to feel like we are a part of something and own items that have meaning, longevity, and the kind of value we don’t have to put a price on.

I would highly recommend the program, and in a month or so I will also highly recommend my website to watch and learn and get back into making.

The Great British Sewing Bee – iPlayer

And here’s a screen shot of me in one of my videos that I’m preparing ready for my site.

Me giving a collar tutorial