I always look to Pantone to provide the best overview of color inspirations for each fashion season. Those of us know that fashion dictates the palette for interior design as well. Below are the colors for Fall 2010 as presented during the shows last February. Now that summer is officially over, I am looking to add splashes of these hues throughout the kaarskoker studio with, of course, a change of candle covers!
I am doing my best to stay relevant to all the social media outlets available to me as I spread the kaarskoker word. I am active on Facebook and twitter. Last week I finally introduced kaarskoker.com into the 21st century with the addition of LIKE and TWEET buttons on every product page! This allows lovers of the decorative candle covers to share with their friends easily. If you are on this blog and ‘like’ our product, tell all you know with a simple click of the mouse.
Last month kaarskoker graced the hors d’oeuvres table during the trunkshow to showcase the latest jewelry collection from LubeyLu Designs. My fave place for custom lampshades, LiT, provided the venue. Nestled among the baba ganoush, crudites and fresh flowers, kkCANDLESTICKS and sleeves provided the perfect accent for the colorful beaded designs.
Thanks to Emily of LubeyLu for including kaarskoker at your event and sharing the pics!
All I can say is, “OMG!” Before I launched kaarskoker, I sourced replacement candle sleeves on chandelierparts.com, which has the largest selection of candle covers, chandelier crystals and various other- you guessed it- chandelier parts. I have tried to place kaarskoker sleeves on this site since the launch nearly 2 years ago. On Wednesday, the email arrived and yesterday I saw my product featured on the site: the only product available under ‘DECORATIVE CANDLE COVERS’. I am going to take the exclusion of all other sleeve styles as a confirmation of kaarskoker as the exclusive source for decorative candle covers!
Today between meeting I stopped at my favorite haunt for fab decorating finds, Pacific Galleries at 4th and Lander in SoDo (South of Downtown, Seattle). On today’s list was a pair of pendants for the kitchen above the peninsula. Imagine my surprise when one of the vendor stalls featured a chandelier for sale and a pair of sconces each of which were adorned with kaarskoker candle covers! Who is this mystery retailer?
The black bamboo chandelier was paired with kkHOUNDSTOOTH in Black & White.
The white tole sconces featured kkFRETWORK in Red.
I have always loved a good mani/pedi and used the time to catch up on magazines and girl talk. This summer my once guilty pleasure has become a bi-weekly must. I am obsessed (and my bank account is black & blue from all the ‘lucky lucky lavender’)!
As I look into what’s hot for Autumn/Winter 2010, I cannot help but marvel at the colors in the kaarskoker candle cover collection that correspond with the hot palette as chosen by refinery29.
In my kitchen the handmade pewter chandelier has been graced with several patterns of kaarskoker candle covers. As I mentioned in an earlier post, a new (old) rug was purchased for the seating area in kitchen, which required the light fixture to be muted but still distinct. Check out how cool the unfinished gray pewter looks with the kkSOLID Gold sleeves. The contrast is striking but the colors of the piece overall still read neutral.
I am fresh off a trip to the East Coast to meet with the Fashion Lighting Buyers of a large chain of Home Improvement stores. They absolutely agree that the current offerings of socket covers, or candle covers, could use some updating (see below).
kaarskoker is here to help! Please note, the prices displayed are for other products as this is a mock-up shot.
Although the trip was only 36 hours, I made time for a quick visit with Kat Mulford (and her littlest man, Hobbs) of turq jewelry. Here’s the shot of me in the rental she got!
With the new red rug comes new art taken from other walls in the house, which creates quite a project for these rainy Seattle spring days. My most beloved piece is this red ink piece of a ship on fire from Tony de los Reyes and it typically resides in the living room. Its new home in the kitchen- where we spend all of our time- will allow me to admire it more. (I have a thing for paintings, drawings, etc. depicting ships with masts as evidence in our large collection of nautical art.) My husbands most-beloved piece is “Superhero Deconstructed.” Now that I have two boys I understand why a grown man still loves superhero themes: Memories of youth.
Next part of Operation Kitchen New Attitude is (FINALLY) kaarskoker candle sleeves on the chandelier. I am thinking kkSOLID in Gold contrasted with the pewter fixture will make the subtle statement I am looking for so the art can really take center stage.
About 2 weeks ago, I had an epiphany. There are so many tricked out details I want to offer with the current kaarskoker candle sleeve collection: paint spotting kkSOLIDS, adding felt trim to kkCANE, overlay of lace on kkSOLIDS. Essentially, I am looking to get crafty and want to offer my creative wares on Etsy. Having already inquired about selling on Etsy this time last year, I know I must offer a handworked product and for all the love and care that go into kaarskoker they are, alas, mass-produced.
A little due diligence is I order before committing myself to a glue gun so I type ‘candle sleeve’ in the Etsy search field. As we all know imitation is the highest form of flattery but COME ON: same price, offered in candelabra diameter with 4” and 6” lengths, bundled in pairs, an oval label (kaarskoker are more eco-friendly as no plastic is used), in at least 1 case same paper genre (new marble papers vs. kaarskoker 19th century marble designs) and launched 2 months post-kaarskoker debut. Suspect in original creativity to say the least. I cannot even bear to type the product name because it is so silly. Trying to stay composed and gracious in Seattle but…seriously.
*images courtesy of Etsy
