Eponymous Vitamins? Martha Stewart of Course!

  

e·pon·y·mous   /əˈpänəməs/ 

adjective,

of, relating to, or being the person or thing for whom or which something is named :  of, relating to, or being an eponymous

Have you heard that a new line of eponymous vitamins has been launched this month? (I've been dying to use that word for ages, soooo English and so ubiquitous in the mags these days.)

This month Martha Stewart added a line of vitamins to her ever-growing list of lifestyle products that carry her name. It's the  Martha Stewart Essentials line of supplements. There are a gazillion brands of vitamins out there  (none of which stand out to me) and  I think that this might be the first vitamin to have such a familiar face on the label.

Photos: Courtesy of Martha Stewart 

 Yup - designer vitamins by Martha.  And not just one vitamin. Many sorts of vitamins tailored to your age, lifestyle and health.

Now that we have Martha Stewart Essentials I want to know what's next on the horizon....make-up? hair products? perfume?

Perfume is usually the first step into brand extension in the fashion world.... Martha has done it all her way so who knows maybe she has that in her plans next?  

For now I'll be trying out the women's multivitamins but I'm hoping she has some plans to shake up the Beauty market.  

Home How - to videos with Martha!

I love sewing and making things but recently I've been wishing that in addition to learning the
 " Home Arts " that I had learned woodworking and all that goes with it- the drilling, the hammering, the spackling, the repairs, the plumbing. (OK maybe not plumbing.)

Life would be so much easier if I could just fix/paint/create things for the house instead of having to hire someone.... Now Martha Stewart (of course) is making that possible by partnering with....
Home Depot

photo: courtesy Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

 The Home How-to series debuts on April 25.  Martha and her peeps will demonstrate DIY projects, dispatch advice, provide product expertise and Martha will even answer some of our questions.   

So here's the plug :   Sign up now and get a $5 coupon from Home Depot !  Just click the link below.

http://ebm.cheetahmail.com/r/regf2?a=0&aid=2075731129&n=31

 Every Thursday, a link to the latest "how to" video will be emailed to you.

 I can't wait to see what Martha and her gang have in store for us.   For now, I'm going to charge up my drill so I can actually use it!

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Co-producer Fall Fashion Show

Martha Stewart's Living always inspires me...

 We are on our way to California for a much awaited trip to Disney Land.  The one caveat-- DWorld was out of the question. Florida would have killed me... Disney overload comes to mind.  California is the perfect compromise.

For the past few weeks I've been wanting to write a post about the Martha Stewart March issue and I finally have the time!  

Copyright © 2013, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Originally published in the March issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

The cover photograph is such a  beautiful arrangement and there are lots more inside.  What makes . all the arrangements inside so perfect is their imperfection in scale and balance.  I would like to be able to put together flowers like that one day!! In the meantime I photographed some beautiful NY-arranged flowers I had in the house. Here is my own version... Flowers on their last legs.  I love the fragility of color and the effort to remain intact....

Also in this issue were some fabulous ideas for beading with precious gems.   I haven't yet had a chance to try my hand at these but here are some of the photos from Living.

a beautiful Martha Stewart Still-life

 

It may seem like you have to live in New York to find supplies but now with the internet it's so easy to find the materials you need.  Another idea was the use of ribbons and brocade trim:

The people at Living always share their resources.  For this story they used mj trim where they sell great ribbon, buttons and trim.

I have a few other resources for ribbon and trim that I love too.  Both are worthy of posts of their own, but for now:

1. Mokuba a Japanese ribbon store
2. Hyman Hendler  Been around forever. They carry not only the basics and novelty but vintage ribbons as well.

Next up- The April issue!!

Photo Credits: Copyright © 2013, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Originally published in the March issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

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My Martha Moment- at last!!!

I'm in the middle next to Martha and that's Darcy with her little Pippa.
The two ladies to my right  are behind the blogs lover.ly  and Nat the Fat Rat.

 On Wednesday I wrote a post about  Pippa's Purple Party on the Martha Stewart Show. I was able to see it all unwind in- person!!  Living in New York I've been to a few of these kinds of day show tapings and this was hands-down the best I've seen.  The set was buzzing with activity  right up to the moment the show went live. Afterwards we were given a tour of the "backstage" area. We couldn't take pictures but Martha actually suggested that someone take this photo of us bloggers!!

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 Thanks Martha!!

Afterwards we were  able to see all the prep and staging areas.  An area the size of a suburban kitchen was set up for all things cooking, food and flowers.   There was a room full of just jars and vases. Beautifully arranged of course and in blocks of color. Would have made a great photo!!

 We also walked by the "Green Room" where guests wait their turn, beautiful dressing rooms with shower too, and Martha's office (at least in that building).  She was serenely sitting at her desk discussing something with some of her staff and all I could think was how does she do it all?  How is she able to cram all that information and knowledge into her brain and manage to run a company, have a TV show, magazine etc, etc. ?  I guess we just have to count ourselves lucky that she can do it all!!  She has changed- NO,  revolutionized the way Americans think about their homes and the time they spend there.  It all made me a little f-klempted and nostalgic for those Sunday mornings when Martha had a show on Sunday mornings.  I couldn't wait to get up and see what she had planned  to show us how to do, what to see, and where to go.

All I know know now is that I gotta re-work that coat of mine. Ugh I'm my mother in her trench coat!!  I just need a pack of Tareytons and galoshes to finish off the look.  Sorry Mom but that was you in the the 70's, remember?   Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  Oh well, so much for glam!

Thanks chickens... on to the next thing now!!

A Purple Party at Martha Stewart

Last week I was invited to attend the taping of Pippa's * Purple (Birthday) Party on the Martha Stewart Show.  Not a usual occurrence, for shore!!   I brought a pal along and because we were due 45 minutes prior to airtime we were able to see everyone (in purple of course) put the finishing touches on the set.  Here are photos of preparation moments before going on air:

 

Darcy Miller, mother of 3, party planner extra with lots of creative ideas!  I'm always a sucker for themed birthday parties and this did not disappoint!!

[All Photos below - Photo credit: Rob Tannenbaum/The Martha Stewart Show]

We saw some great ideas for favors and decor:

What would a purple party be without  cassis creme whoopee pies?

  David Crofton ( co-owner with his wife Dawn Casale ) of  One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn demonstrated how to make these whoopie pies  

And one of the crafts was a must-make project. You'll never guess how its done so check on Martha's website!!

 There were so many great  ideas too many to list here but all this and more can be found on the  Martha Stewart website.

You too can attend a show by going to the Martha Stewart website.  It's lots of fun and an
"only- in-New York"experience!!


In the meantime I'm working on a Hawaiian Luau Party for my youngest.  Ideas and photos to follow soon!


Have a great week.  More Martha later!
xo CP

* Pippa is Darcy's youngest .  I'd say she is her mother's mini-me. You can see Pippa too on the Martha Stewart website.

Crafting Ideas for the Holidays [ hosted by the Martha Stewart Family Blog and Pins and Needles NYC !!!!]

Blogging is like having children.... You get to meet lots of interesting people that you may have never met otherwise.

One such person is Rachel Low , owner of Pins and Needles.   We met last year thanks to another blogger who suggested I visit her new shop and to say hello to Rachel. We've kept in touch since then and Rachel invited me to a holiday crafting event in her store she co-hosted with the people at Martha Stewart's Family Blog.

I didn't know what to expect but I knew it would be fun and Rachel's store is the perfect fit for Martha Stewart!

As soon as I reached the landing I could hear the store humming with activity.  Young and old were working away at their various crafts:

 Notions and potions:

Various stations were set-up to make cards, gift tags, ornaments and colorful barrettes .  Here's a sampling :

“Photo by Mike Krautter. Courtesy of Martha Stewart’s “Living in the Family Room” Blog.”

“Photo by Mike Krautter. Courtesy of Martha Stewart’s “Living in the Family Room” Blog.”

“Photo by Mike Krautter. Courtesy of Martha Stewart’s “Living in the Family Room” Blog.”

 I'm definitely going to make these crafts with my kids and their friends sometime before the holidays.
If you'd like to add these projects to your to-do list be sure to check out the how-to's at the following links:  (all thanks to the Martha Stewart Family blog)

Button Cards, Button Barrettes, Felt Bags, Ginger bread people and felt/chalkboard tags and  ornaments

 Just a few more pics... I love craft supplies!!

And while I was there I  munched on some lovely cookies provided by Elenis Cookies while checking out  the books for sale at Pins and Needles.

I couldn't leave without checking out Martha's new book Holiday Crafts which is on my to-buy list now.    On the way out we all were treated to a dream (at least my dream)  goodie bag.  It was fun for a change to leave with a party favor for moi instead of my kids.  The people at Martha Stewart stuffed the adorable polka-dot "Pins and Needles" bags with Crafting supplies and the new "Special Collector's Edition" of the Holiday Handbook:

And last but not least it was so great to meet  Darcy Miller, Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings,   Jenn Andrlik, Crafts and Holidays Editor, MarthaStewart.com, and all the other friendly and creative people from Martha Stewart.

And as a P.S.:
This is a photo of me with Darcy Miller (on the left).  Couldn't resist asking for a photo of us together. If you don't know her you should.  Check out Darcy's website.to see what she is up to as writer, editor, illustrator and more. Check out  her scrapboxing and how you can do it too.  It was so fun meeting her and getting to chat a bit about kids, crafting and work.  She makes it all look easy!

Have fun making your crafts and be sure to check out the Martha Stewart family blog for lots more ideas .   And if you live in NYC or are just here for a visit I highly recommend a visit to the Pins and Needles store on the Upper East Side in New York !!  If you are geographically challenged you can visit her blog and check out her online shop as well

Thanks so much Rachel for including me!!   I can't wait to see what you come up with next!!
xo CP

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An Easy Plum Cake for Fall

Hi there,

Looking for an easy delicious dessert for the Fall season.  This one is excellent.  
The  recipe is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine :

This is before pouring in the shortcake dough:

And this is after baking and flipping the cake onto a cake plate
:

The recipe calls for one plum but I used two. It's like a plum version of Tarte Tatin the French upside down apple cake made in a cast iron frying pan... caramelized fruit is delish!

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the cake on a cake stand (of course the people at Martha thought to do that) but that's one of those things on my wish list... have never gotten one.

This recipe was super easy and so satisfying aesthetically and taste-wise. It really turned out exactly as pictured in Food Magazine!  It looks impressive and is so easy. A perfect sweet for Fall.

Note: The recipe calls for buttermilk so for a brief moment I thought of substituting the dough with a bisquik shortbread recipe.  So glad I didn't. The cake had a beautiful texture and melts in the mouth.  I also refrained from adding orange zest and poppy seeds which are probably a nice-to-have but I didn't want to get guff from the peanut gallery here...