November 2005

  • Spode Christmas Tree a Perennial Favorite

    By Anonymous on 11/23/05 10:14am
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    Spode Christmas Tree fine china continues to be very popular this year among Christmas shoppers. The whimsical Spode Christmas Tree design is beloved by Christmas fans the world over, but it is especially popular in America. The famous illustration got its start way back in 1938, when Harold Holdway, a young designer in Spode's England office, was asked to design a Christmas pattern for the American market. Harold was faced with a dilemma...he had never seen a decorated Christmas tree! In his first sketch the presents were suspended from the branches. "Wouldn't that cause them to droop?" he wondered. He amended his sketches when told the American tradition was to place gifts under the tree. Holdway used another Christmas icon in a most delightful way, adorning the top of the tree with jolly St. Nick.

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  • Dallas Slipper Club Gets Wedding and Entertaining Tips from Nambe

    By Anonymous on 11/11/05 10:04am
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    Nambe hosted an event recently for Dallas' oldest women's organization, the Slipper Club, in its NorthPark Center store. Approximately 50 women showed up to get the inside scoop on wedding planning and entertaining from Nambe vice president of design and creative director Bob Borden, Dallas-area wedding consultant Mary Wright-Shah, and Bella Flora floral designer Cesar Diaz. Established in 1934, the Slipper Club is more than 400 strong, and its good work includes raising money for local nonprofit organizations and charitable agencies that serve women or children throughout the Dallas area.

  • Waterford Crystal a Top Tourist Destination in Ireland

    By Anonymous on 11/10/05 9:45am
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    The Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre is the fourth most popular tourist attraction in Ireland, with more than 300,000 visitors last year, many of them from the United States. The Waterford Crystal visitor experience includes a dramatic recreation of the Millennium Eve celebrations in New York’s Times Square, a guided tour through the crystal production process, an 18th century Master Craft Room where master crystal-makers have the opportunity, the time, and the space to explain their craft, and the Waterford Crystal Gallery, a special retail store that contains the widest selection of Waterford Crystal in the world as well as a wide range of other products. Waterford Crystal was first established in 1783 in the Irish harbor town of Waterford. Its founders were two brothers, William and George Penrose, who were important developers and principal exporters in the city.

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  • Digital Blue Fun, Educational Electronic Toys for "Tweens"

    By Anonymous on 11/10/05 9:40am
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    The mission of Prime Entertainment's Digital Blue product line is to delight young people with products that merge technology with traditional play and learning. Prime Entertainment caters its products to older kids and "tweens" ages 8-12, as well as teenagers--a generation that experiences interactive technology as an everyday part of their lives. They want the freedom to create, play, and learn from technology without always being "tethered" to a PC or video game console. Digital Blue offers kids and teens exciting and innovative products that can be used throughout their world. Digital Blue brings innovation and excitement to three core categories: 1.Science products, like their award-winning QX3+ microscope and its successor, the QX5. 2.Music products, including both computer-aided devices for making your own music and recording devices for listening. 3.Creativity products, such as their Digital Movie Creator, which enables kids to shoot and produce their own movies.

  • Russ Teddy Bears Comfort Children After Tornado

    By Anonymous on 11/9/05 10:16am
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    More than 1,000 Russ teddy bears provided comfort for children in Massac County, Illinois, following devastating tornados that cut a mile-wide swath through the community in 2003.     Distributed by Pastor Richard Keplinger to pre-schoolers, first and second graders, each bear was accompanied by a note to reassure the children: "I am your Angel bear! Friends that you may never know sent me to be your friend." Wrote one child, who named his bear Josh, "I like the note you wrote. It was nice of you. I will always remember the tornado. The bear helps me." Dubbed Project Angel Bear, the outreach - funded by an anonymous donor - included additional information to help parents reassure their children in the aftermath of the storms.

  • Sensual Minimalism: Nambe Designer Karim Rashid

    By Anonymous on 11/8/05 11:36am
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    Less than ten years after opening his studio in New York, Karim Rashid stands among the contemporary masters of design. In addition to Nambe, Rashid's clients include such well-known names as Sony, Prada, and Issey Miyake. With more than 800 products in production, the 40-year old Rashid has become one of the world's most salable designers. The so-called "sensual minimalism" that characterizes his style - the feminine curve of a wooden lamp stand or the optical pleasure embedded in a glass stacking table - is as evident in his popular Umbra wastebasket as it is in his award-winning line of sleek alloy and crystal products for Nambe. Born in Cairo, Egypt, Rashid grew up in England and Canada. He earned a degree in industrial design from Carleton University in Ottawa, and next studied design in Italy.

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