New items on Aiko Designs
there are some great new pieces available on the site like these black garnet dagger drop earrings. — take a peek here.
Archive for the Category talk
Aiko Designs in Brooklyn this week!
Trunk show at Asha Veza in Park Slope (69 5th Ave btwn St. Marks Ave. & Prospect Pl.) Thurs through Sun (9/24-27)!
When you buy 2 pieces of Aiko Designs jewelry you’ll receive 15% off that purchase!
Nest event June 3rd @ Coffee Bar
You can help empower women in developing countries. How? By joining the women of Nest for an evening of mingling, shopping and drinks at Coffee Bar in San Francisco on June 3rd.
Event Details
When :: Wednesday, June 3rd from 6:30 – 9:00pm
Where :: Coffee Bar in San Francisco | corner of Florida & Mariposa.(map)
Who :: the San Francisco board of Nest, founder Rebecca Kousky, local designers & you!
$10 suggested donation
Looking forward to meeting you and sharing our cause. Email us with any questions, RSVP, or just say hello at sf@buildanest.com.
Can’t make it but still want to contribute? Learn more about Nest and donate to our cause here.
SF Gallery 143 Summer Boutique
SF Gallery 143 | June 5-21 | designers, benefits, parties (sangria!)
– a biannual pop-up shop in the Lower Haight — don’t miss it
143 Fillmore
Feria Urbana this weekend
Mother’s day is on May 10th, so don’t forget to pick her up something special the day before at Feria Urbana in the back area of Pizzaiolo Restaurant in Oakland. The restaurant will be serving coffee & toast with Blue Bottle Coffee & Blue Chair jams – Yummy!
Local artists and designers will be selling a range of items at accessible prices. Find the latest chic and unique clothing, jewelry, home accessories, artwork, fashion accessories, ceramics and much more. It’s a shopping experience like no other – so don’t miss out!
Come support your local art community – buy something for yourself or buy someone a gift. Grab a bite to eat or a drink as you take a little shopping break.
FREE ADMISSION
Saturday May 9th, 10 A.M. – 3 P.M.
Pizzaiolo – 5008 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 652-4888 directions
Featuring:
King Bag Company, The Girl and Rhino, Aiko Designs, Rock N Socks, Tallu-lah, Charming Sam, Funky & Fabulous, Chi Cheng, Isla Corbett, Feisty Elle, Caraucci, Judy Beebe Designs, Birdy Botanicals, Bahay Bags, David M Bowman Studio, Frolick, Villain Accessories, My Dirty Dishes, Secession Art & Design, Sasha Couture, Archicraft, Noelle Nakama, Delynda DeLeon Designs, Shu-Hui Yang, Meri Page Design, Lana, Medium to Masses, 12 Mood Studio, Effie’s Heart, Green Halo Designs, Brenda Soi Ceramics, Lulii Handwoven Designs, WilloToons, JBalducci Jewelry
Feria Urbana is sponsoring ‘Nest’ this month – click on their logo for more info.
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Nest is a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit that empowers women artisans to emerge from poverty through a unique combination of interest-free microloans, mentoring from established designers, and a market in which to sell their craft. By promoting self-reliance, Nest helps its loan recipients to create successful small businesses that allow them to support their children and their families, thereby instilling pride and encouraging community-wide change. |
Project Roadway – AIDS/LifeCycle
Of the 40,000+ people who will test HIV positive in the United States this year, 50 percent will be under 25 years old. Women now account for 50% of people infected with HIV worldwide.
My friend Adriene (team captain of Project Roadway) will be riding her bike 545 miles with AIDS/Lifecycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June to help end this epidemic. She has set a personal goal to raise $5000 by May 31st.
Aiko Designs played a small part in helping Adriene reach her goal by donating a necklace valued at $130 for a recent fundraiser/auction for Adriene. The necklace actually brought in $150!
For ways you can help/contribute, see Adriene’s page here:
http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/adrienecrimson
and follow her training progress here:
http://crimsonic.blogspot.com/search/label/AIDS%2FLifecycle%208
Go Adriene!
Spring Open Studios
Spring open studios are here again — please stop by and support local SF artists. You can find me there at the Alabama & 19th location.
Preview: Thursday April 23 5 – 8pm
Opening Reception: Friday April 24 7-11pm
Open Studios: Sat & Sun April 25 & 26 12-5pm
Please join us in celebrating our 15 year Anniversary with Art Explosion Open Studios 2009. Each year over 100 artists at three locations join together in opening their studios to put on one of the best art shows of the year. There will be many fabulous works of art and jewelry on display in the galleries and studios during this event. It will be an exceptional opportunity to add to your collection, buy unique gifts and visit your favorite local artists. We will be having a preview Thursday night from 5-8pm which is a good time to stop by after work and get the first look. On Friday the studios will be hosting spectacular opening receptions from 7-11pm with free admission and refreshments. Make sure to stop by for an evening of art viewing and mingling. Saturday and Sunday we will have our open studios from 12-5pm.
Opening Receptions: Friday April 24th 7pm – 11pm
All three receptions are within walking distance or a short drive and will make for an enjoyable evening out.
Art Explosion Studios 2425 17th St @ Potrero
Art Explosion Studios 744 Alabama St @ 19th St
Art Explosion Studios 2345 Harrison St @19th St
Online Map:
Temescal
Unfortunately, there’s been some bad news coming out of Oakland recently. Fortunately, there are some bright spots to Oakland, and one of them is the Temescal neighborhood.
The Wall Street Journal considers the neighborhood to be the new gourmet ghetto of the Bay Area, and I can see why with Bakesale Betty, Pizzaiolo, and Doña Tomás. You can even sense the gourmet-ness at the Temescal Farmers’ Market. I just checked it out today and was really impressed. It’s held year-round in the Oakland DMV parking lot every Sunday from 9am-1pm and the vendors there have some really delicious and unique products. Blue Bottle Coffee has a booth with a line that winds down through the market. Hodo Soy Beanery has some delicious soy products, (including yuba which I love, love, love) and Scream Sorbet has fantastic flavor offerings like Coconut Thai Basil, Lemon Shiso, and Lime Jasmine (dang! so good!).
It’s inspiring to see small, independent vendors with delicious and unique, quality products. You get a sense from walking around the market that good things are happening — entrepreneurs are growing their businesses, community is being built and in general people are sharing some really good stuff! Love it!
Gorilla BBQ
OK, so this isn’t jewelry related, but it’s inspiring…
I recently saw an episode of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins & Dives (I love the Food Network and secretly wish I could be a cake decorator) that featured Gorilla BBQ in Pacifica, CA (a small beach town just south of San Francisco). W-e-l-l, it turns out I was invited to an event in Pacifica today and decided that on my way back to SF I had to stop by Gorilla and check it out.
Gorilla BBQ was opened by two native Pacifica guys in 2006 and it’s a free-standing, sort of orange-y-red railroad car right off of the Coast Highway. There’s nowhere to sit inside– everything is to go, although there are a few picnic tables up the hill. I heard one of the co-owners say they smoke 600 pounds a day and since the episode on the Food Network there have been lines of people waiting for them to open and pretty much until they close. They used to be open until 8:00pm and now they’ve marked out their open hours to say they’re open until they sell out. Today they sold out around 3:30 (they open at noon!). I stood in line for over an hour and once I got to the counter, all they had left was the pulled pork (see their menu here). I’m so glad there was something left so that hour wasn’t wasted — there were quite a few people still in line when I left, I hope there was still some BBQ left for them.
There was a lot of chit-chat while waiting in line and some local guys behind me were saying that it’s amazing how different things are now that Gorilla was featured on the Food Network — which reminded me of the whole “Oprah effect”. While we all love our little local favorites and don’t always want to share them with the oustide world, it’s really great to see them succeed. Both of the owners were in the train car working away and I was really happy for them — doing what they love and doing fantastic! I’m definitely going to go back and try the ribs — probably on a weekday.
