prov-e-nance ˈpräv-nən(t)s, ˈprä-və-ˌnän(t)s
noun. the place of origin or earliest known history of something.

I am so excited to announce my new gig as a monthly guest columnist on Krista Nye Schwartz‘s blog Cloth & Kind. I’ll be penning the Provenance column and it’s a match made in heaven. Krista and I had long been admiring each others aesthetic – she describes herself as a “self-diagnosed textile addict”  – and I basically stopped bothering to Pin once I discovered her Textile Files on Pinterest. I’ll be joining forces with two other talented bloggers, Tami Ramsay, an interior and floral designer from Athens, GA and Bonnie Berry, a wedding and food photographer from Austin, TX, who will also be writing new columns on art, flowers and you guessed it, food! Although the internet knows no geographic boundaries, I often toil away here in Japan feeling a little bit isolated, so I am so thrilled to have a team of great women to work with.

My post this week is on the origins and techniques of Japanese kasuri. For my readers, it would mean the world to me if you would head over to Cloth & Kind and read the post and leave a comment to show you’d been there – here’s the link straight to it. I know it’s just the kind of post you would like. For those coming to my blog via Cloth & Kind, welcome! I think you’ll find lots of content here to enjoy and I’d love to hear from you. I have category tabs down the right side of the blog and I use tags pretty freely as well. Search away!

One photo that didn’t make it into the post is these kasuri work pants. I am constantly tempted to buy some of these old work clothes with an eye towards wearing them and then the voice of my 13, soon to be 14-year-old daughter pops into my head. So unfortunately (perhaps fortunately), I left these as the market last week.

In addition to Krista herself and her content on Cloth & Kind, I just adore the physical design of her blog.  She takes such care with the art direction and this has confirmed for me what I have long known and talked about before. I need to get out of my standard blog platform and move to a design that matches the quality of my content.  So if you know of any great graphic designers with wordpress.org skill (or are one yourself), please let me know. And if you want, instead of the usual currency, there is the opportunity to be paid in antique textiles, porcelain or whatever else!

It truly has been an indigo trifecta over the last week or so, with the long-awaited post on the amazing Amy Katoh and her treasure filled shop Blue & White. The giveaway for the LuRu Home pillow was a huge success with 83 entrant spaces. I am excited to announce that Loi Thai, proprietor of Tone on Tone Antiques in Bethesda, MD is the winner. Loi also writes a beautiful blog, he’s a dear and his taste is impeccable so I can’t wait to see what he does with the pillow as it is a little bit outside of his usual palette.

Once I knew he had won I made a bet with myself – I was sure he’d choose the pillow in Babyteeth – and he did!

Please join me over at Cloth & Kind today!