FW: Stray Dog Designs Haitian Worker Relief Fund

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our many friends, customers, and colleagues who have called and written expressing concern about Haiti and the people with whom Stray Dog Designs works there.Those of you  who have admired and purchased products created by the folks we work with there, have a connection. As you know, we went to Haiti five years ago for the purpose of bringing work to that impoverished nation. There is no better relief from poverty than a chance for gainful employment at a meaningful wage, both of which we were happy to be able to provide.     In the wake of the recent tragic earthquake we, like the rest of the world, await more information and news of our workers and friends in Haiti. We know that there is a high probability that the building where our artisans worked was damaged, thereby taking their place of work away. We pray that was the worst of it, but we don't yet know with so much post earthquake chaos at this time. At first we planned to make a donation to  an organization like Doctors Without Borders, but decided instead to create a direct relief fund for the very workers with whom we work. Noted designer Kathy Bazemore illustrated our feeling perfectly when she wrote:    Dear Billy & Jane, I am so sorry about what is happening in Haiti. Any word from your friends there?  During Katrina's aftermath, getting a donation right into the life of friends of friends was quicker relief than sending a donation through an organization. So let me know if there is any way that I can help - or if there is a specific effort or organization you think would be most beneficial to families you know I would like to know how to help.   We have set up the Stray Dog Designs Haitian Worker Relief Fund. The money we collect will be used to directly help our workers and friends of Stray Dog Designs in Haiti to rebuild their lives, whatever that means -donating blankets or clothing, acquiring medical assistance, rebuilding homes, or  maybe help relocating to another area. Whatever the need, we wish to continue to help the very people we went to help in the first place. In addition, Stray Dog Designs will match $.50 on every dollar raised up to $10,000.00. Obviously there are immediate needs for everyone in Haiti, and should you feel moved to give to other helping organizations we urge you to do so. Our goal at Stray Dog Designs will be to address the needs of the few hundred people and their families with whom we have a connection. We have set up a  Paypal  account called the Stray Dog Designs Haitian Worker Relief Fund.  If you wish to join our effort we extend our deepest gratitude. Those who donate to our Fund will receive detailed information as to how their money is used.         Donations can be made by clicking above, or by sending a check made out to Stray Dog Designs Haitian Worker Relief Fund to:   Stray Dog Designs 611 E. 11th St. Chattanooga, TN 37403   Quick Links Donate to the Stray Dog Designs Haitan Worker Relief Fund About Stray Dog Designs

coconut macaroons

s

scrumptious macaroons
as often, we are indebted to martha stewart's cookies for the recipe



you will need:
3/4 cup sugar, or a bit less if you use sweetened coconut

2 1/2 cups shredded coconut, unsweetened if you like, but, i use sweetened
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


what to do:
preheat oven to 325 farenheit
line a baking sheet with parchment paper
in a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, and vanilla
using your hands, mix well, completely combining ingredients
dampen hands with cold water
use 1 1/2 tablespoons of mix to form haystacks, and place on prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart
bake until golden brown, about 16 or 17 minutes, rotating halfway through
let cool on a wire rack.
yum!  told you it was easy!



CHOCOLATE ALERT *you can also add 1/2 cup of semi-sweet choc chips, and make a few more.  cooking time is 15 to 20 minutes for this variation*

At the bookstore yesterday i saw the sugar-sweet but strangely compelling "little boy" picture book by Alison mcghee and Peter Reynolds -- ends with 'little boy you remind me of how / so much depends on days made of now' -- I guess it's the usual reminder to live in the moment and celebrate those 'little' things that make all our lives worthwhile rather than waiting and waiting for the big things that we think will make us happy -- also, to adore our children for the all too brief time they are little, and even not so little (see my post a couple of days ago about big boys). A little Saturday morning sentimentality! anyway, the book is adorable and charmingly illustrated but I think more a heart tugger for the parents of little boys than an entertaining book for the little boys themselves . . . On that slightly sweetly sardonic note, happy Saturday!!

paperboy wallpaper, and penguins

photo via bodie and fou

every day, it seems, design for boys gets better.  case in point, new Dya-think-e-saurus wallpaper from paperboy, available at bodie and fou.  i especially love the tiny silhouette of a boy among the dinos . . . if only teddy would let me redo his room -- but no, we're stuck with orange and planets. 

and another wallpaper treasure, this one from Atacama

 

photo via bodie and fou

and as caroline adores penguins, i might get to use this one.  thanks, bodie and fou.

 

can you believe these funny little guys? so compelling and creative

photo via Milk

 

i was looking today at Milk, a french online zine about kids and design, and i spotted these little creatures/people/trolls, "Les Bonhommes du bois", all handmade apparently by "une jeune creatrice toulousaine", Son-Ca (of Glandiose).  Since we appear to have missed the exhibit in Toulouse in December, we will have to content ourselves with looking at them here.

Have decided that my new favorite look is "industrial farmhouse" -- I think it's perfect, sort of quiet but strong. Examples later!

i got the blues thinking of the future . . .

i got the blues thinking of the future, so i left off and made some marmalade. it's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor. dh lawrence

today, as i took our little guy for kindergarten testing, i was thinking of these boys, his older brothers, and how they'll be off to college all too soon, when to me it seems that only last week they were little, too. in fact, this photo is a do-over of our 1996 christmas card, when a preschooler and a toddler sat in this very spot . . . .

~~~~ maybe i need to get to work on some marmalade? and my kitchen floor definitely needs a good scrub.

tempting treats for a frosty evening

chocolate gingerbread cookies, meringues, gold dusted and sparkly iced stars, and coconut macaroons

last night, we were happy to serve as the dessert stop (what else?!) on a delightful progressive dinner, and we decided to extend the holiday sparkle that we're all missing a good bit just now with some shimmery, fluffy, possibly even festive treats for our guests. and this isn't a royal "we" -- baking is a family affair here in the fergusandme household, with pretty much everyone pitching in and making favorites, or at least hanging around chatting and waiting for the first batch to come out of the oven, whereupon they are rewarded not only with a couple of meringues, but with some quick washing up to do . . . . 

so, the above are some of our tempting treats for a frosty evening, and below, after the jump, you'll find the first of a batch of yummy recipes . . .  first up, by popular demand, chocolate gingerbread cookies (they're the chocolatey-sugar frosted ones in front)~

call me leo, or alex, or just king cookie, if you like

right now, this is possibly our favorite mass(ish) market, mall available home deco thing out there -- anthro's lion cookie jar.  i saw it a week or two ago, and even tweeted it, and then  caroline and i were prowling around (sorry!) the other day and she honestly stopped in her tracks and said, "mom, look at this -- i love it!" ~~ BIG praise from a hard to impress design savvy eleven year old.  we love his friendly face, his tiny feet, his perfect glaze, and the fact that he is a COOKIE jar . . . .

house photos

some photos of our house from today . . . .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41670376@N05/

red toy storage, redux

remember a few weeks back we were trying to clear up and clear out the holiday~birthday toy explosion at our house, and i mentioned the possibility of using ikea's red ps cabinets to store teddy's prodigious collection of toys?  it's a happy ending -- we got the cabinets, cleaned out and sorted the toys, and now teddy can find his trains. plus, at around 25" tall, the cabinets an ideal height for a tall preschooler to stand at and create . . . fun, funky, and affordable at 99. each. we used three, pushed together to make a long surface, suitable for Thomas the tank and his many, many friends to chunter along, very happily.

graphic via tiny prints, always v. adorable

and all the best for 2010, from our family to yours~