November's Nylon Magazine Heart 811 (+PDX in general)

Nylon magazine paid 811 a visit recently and even took portraits of Diana(Stand Up Comedy), May (Nationale), Wynde (Golden Rule)+I in our respective purveyor parlors.
Read all about it in this month's issue. Also highlighted were a few more favorites of mine about town: IPRC, Powell's, Rad Summer,DJ Beyonda, and some band called Lovers (heard of them?)
They claim I possess some sort of forest magic.. hmmm...
You all should weigh in on this- they only met me for 5 minutes.

Stick it to the man, Brought to you by the Ace Hotel +Eat/Shop Guides and endorsed by extensive use of parentheticals

For the entire duration of October(what's left of it), November, and none of December(the promo ends Dec.1), you can receive 10%off at a bunch of participating businesses (including tiny lil' Sword+Fern) by showing your Ace Hotel Key + mentioning "Stick it to the man" when you shop.
You don't have to really say that when you come in. Actually, please don't.

I am super honored to be featured in the 2010 edition of the Portland Eat/Shop guides.(!!!!!!!)
Also featured is my good buddy and fabulous BakerGoddess, Morgan of Dovetail Bakery!
I am sure there are lots of other ruling Portland businesses inside the tiny little book of new places to which you will want to haunt.
There is also an IPhone app. version of the guide coming out, which you can grab for yourself to make it easier to hunt down all the local, independent bizzes the authors focus on.
Thanks so much to the lovely founder+author, Kaie Wellmann, for loving me back.
The book is due out this month! Come shop!

Form/Function Fashion Show, Tomorrow

I am excited to be participating in my first runway show, tomorrow, at a benefit for the Portland Center for Architecture as the only jewelry designer, alongside the talents of 4 Portland-based apparel designers.
Read an article from Portland Monthly about the show here
And an article By Marjorie Skinner in Portland Mercury's Sold Out here
What: Form Function Fashion Show
When: Friday, October 29th, 7-10pm
Where: Center for Architecture – 403 NW 11th Ave. Portland, Or
How much: $20 for General Admission only $10 for students with ID. Available at http://formfunctionfashion.eventbrite.com/
Who:
Liza Rietz
Adam Arnold
Dawn Sharp
Emily Ryan
Sword+Fern

Hope to see you there!

shop hours this weekend

sorry for the erratic schedule lately.
hours this weekend:
thursday, 10/28: open 1 pm- 7 pm
friday, 10/29: closed for participation in the center for architecture form/function fashion show.
saturday, 10/30: open LATE! 10 am-10 pm!!
sunday, 10/31:open 10 am -7 pm
monday, 11/1: open 10 am -7 pm
as always, you can visit the shop by chance, or very deliberately by making an appointment with me by text, email, or telephone call.
see you soon

Potential Amulets

amulets: objects to protect your person from trouble, could be a gem, a coin, a statue, a drawing, a plant, an animal,

or some music, a special teacup, or a textile.

 chelsea heffner's silk scarves hang on the wall in handsome shades of chestnut, pumpkin, cement, nutmeg, the color of the insides of seeds and your teeth when you smile

 i found some empty glass vials and filled them with salts, quartz, sage, charms, silk, chain, prisms, matches, ribbons, shell. 

each one is different. a little tag tells what's inside.bury it in your backyard or give it to your long lost friend

 vintage soft silk calico jacket, $44.

 wooden bowl with spoon, for salts, tea, treasures.$22.

 hanging nest bowls, by Fort(Bklyn), for holding plants, rocks, spices. $18 each.

 carved gemstone pieces, for holding watercolors, incense, jewelry, seeds.$10.

a set of vintage stoneware teacups, $16.

 vintage japanese ceramic portioned plate. for holding, organizing. set of 3, $26.

 monogrammed colorful cotton handkerchiefs. U,S,T,E,G. $4 each.

the strong rainbow light of good health +spirit flowers will take care of you

we all have this wish.sword+fern hopes for good health for everyone.

photography by megan holmes- new work in light boxes.


very old slides, encased in glass and metal.
the colors are incredible when the sun shows through. i strung them up like a necklace of rainbow light in the window. $12 each.


it's october and my hardy fuchsias just opened. the most amazing flame color.
they greet you at the front door. they have a delicate toughness and this makes them an appropriate spirit flower for sword+fern. they made it through last winter and deal well with unintentional neglect.

orange labyrinth dream pillows, stuffed entirely with organic lavender flowers, $30 each.



new sword+fern amulets, with leather, gold, agate, shell, found hardware, driftwood.
hung on the wall next to delicate ceramic necklaces by eden batki. $70-$80 each.


tangled gold paper paintings. $75 each, a series of 6.


powdered pigments in hand-labeled tiny glass vials with cork tops,$16 each.
used to paint ceramics. mix well with linseed oil +lavender essential oil.

new arrival: mudpuppy ceramics

mudpuppy airplant pods hang next to forestbound bags, eden bakti miniature planters, a megan boganovich crystal vase, papermode blank books, and elizabeth benotti porcelain drinking cups in the shop.

Just in are 3 ceramic air plant pods, handmade in Denver by Mike McDowell.
All of his work features clean lines and stark colors, and still feels organic and earthy.
These pieces are painted with a metallic moss green glaze, and hang from heavy twine, with an air plant tucked inside.
$35-$60 each, the plants are included.
I am excited to be carrying more plantlife in the shop, and these pods are the perfect complement to Tillandsia spp., or Epiphytes, or "air plants", they need no soil because water and nutrients are absorbed through the leaves. The plants slip out easily when it's time to water them. How to care for Tillandsia:
-Give them bright, filtered light.
-Thoroughly wet them 2-3 times per week; more often in a hot, dry environment; less often in a cool, humid one.
-In conditions of extreme drying, and consequent moisture loss, Tillandsia cannot get replacement water from their roots like a terrestrial plant, or draw on internal reserves like a succulent.
(In general, if you are growing them indoors and the air is dry, you will need to submerge the plant in water for 10-20 minutes about every two weeks.. )

things together+the unknown familiar

Just arrived in the shop- a collection of mysterious mobiles by Brooklyn's Things Together.
Brooklyn designer Jen Kelly has put together a collection of incredibly moody and balanced sculpture mobiles for Sword +Fern.
In the artist's words: "..an ongoing experiment in combining materials and functions to create decorative art objects- inspired by nature and ornamental design, I combine and distill these influences so that the result is something familiar yet unknown."

I was amazed by their thoughtful, mystical design when they arrived and I viewed them in 3D.
The mobiles are made with driftwood found along the shores of Lake Superior, handmade resin sticks, and recycled paper reinforced with wire and painted.

The interesting, swinging, light weight rocks remind me of shards of the moon dropped from the sky. There are 6 mobiles, ranging in size and price from $35 to $90, 3 in graphite grey, and 3 in shimmering white.
feel free to contact me with further questions or to order.

new arrivals in the shop

inspiring vintage books to go along with your fall projects:
hunting wild mushrooms, shell collector's handbook, green plants for grey days,
plants that really bloom indoors, oregon's rivers guidebook, the living plant, sandpainting









vintage by greasy (Centralia, WA)-pocket knives, books, drinking cups, $6-$8.

destroy design( San Francisco, CA)- triangle gift cards and gold patterned hand-screened blank writing books, $4-$5.




paper mode(France) embroidered blank writing books, $18.

andy lifschutz (NYC)- 5 new sterling one of a kind hand-forged rings, $55-$110.





plainmade by chelsea heffner (Portland,OR)- new fall 'false knit' silk scarf colors: champagne, burnt orange, pale, $44.




machete knits by anna evans (Portland,OR)- simple hand knit cowls and scarves in super soft cashmere and merino wools.
$38-$42 each, in soft winter colors-navy,sungold, pale, charcoal.



i saw the leaves turning colors today..what was life like before we had seasons?
see you soon. bundle up