glü wine and stockings

Nothing like the smell of glü wine on a snowy day. Saturday we feasted on hot wine and cookies surrounded by some beautiful new things in the store.

VOTE for jan & äya

I'm quite humbled that our store has been nominated by Daily Candy for it's 2008 "Sweetest Things". Vote for us and you are not only voting for a cute store, but for the local artists and designers we represent and greenpoint! Tell all your friends!
Love,
Carolyn

Holiday Sale at Jan & Äya

Hello dear friends, as we cosy up for the holidays surrounded by those we love it is a great time to reflect on the year, and what a year it's been. At least for me, personally, I feel a tremendous change in the air in a way that is completely unknown, a bit scary and exciting at the same time. There is a great sense of community unity percolating, everyone wondering what the new year will hold.
As for Jan & Äya the new year will also hold a lot of new things which I'll detail at a later date. For now come on by this weekend for 20% any purchase with the above coupon. There are some lovely new things such as our super cute hand painted kid's clogs $65 (adult sizes can be customed orders), llubav felt flowers ($50) and garlands ($38), delicious, and very adult, chocolate at $8.5 a bar or 3 for $24, fir scented votive candles ($33) and teas (such as chocolate and mint, perfect for a cold night) $18 a tin.

Love and thanks to all,
Carolyn

mast brothers chocolate

so I've had a little crush for a while, a chocolate crush and being swiss that is not surprising, but these chocolates are not from switzerland, rather from right here in greenpoint and jan & äya will be carrying them. I'm very excited to announce the arrival of the "mast brothers chocolate". Impeccably home-made of pure raw cocoa beans with such things as fleur de sel and cocoa nibs and wrapped in the finest italian papers, these are affordable luxuries in slim times. $8.50 a bar, these make the prefect little gift from not only someone who cares about chocolate, but about supporting local artisans.

OBAMA

how on such a momentous night can anyone not praise the events of last night! To Barack Obama, To America, To Democracy (for once!), To a new era. How blessed we are!

hooray for greenpoint artists!

A warm and whole-hearted thank you to all the very talented greenpoint artists and designers that participated in jan & äya's first greenpoint design conference. Our first evening included artisanal baker Sarah Magid and felter/stylist Llubav Choy Duerr. This past saturday Mia Hebib of Oblik Atelier and Jaqueline and George Schmidt of Screech Owl Design joined us, as well as an inspiring video about Joey Roth's Sorapot. The evening was filled with thoughts on art and design, and lovely conversation. More picture to come soon!

Greenpoint design conference part 1

I'm very excited to announce that we will host our very first "greenpoint design conference" saturday, oct. 25th and nov.1st from 6-8pm featuring six amazing local designers. In a casual setting designers will share their thoughts, process and work.

This saturday Oct. 25th:
Sarah Magid Cakes: The woman behind the amazing "Golden Twinkees"
Andreea Avram Rusu: Sublime lighting design
Llubav Choy Duerr: Combining her background in textile, surface and interior design, her love of fashion, and a personal aesthetic of art as visual feast, Llubav seeks to brighten your day with her stitched-felt stationary, hand-crafted fashion accessories, and ornate home adornments. After spending the first ten years of her life in the small fishing village that is Chimbote, Peru, Llubav left her native land on a journey that would take her – after a two year sojourn in Mexico – to Herndon, Virginia, and then New York City. Heavily influenced by the vibrant cultures of Latin America, and professionally trained at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Llubav uses Hungarian wool felt, American wool, filigree, and vintage embellishments to produce creations that are as unique and colorful as her upbringing. Llubav lives in Brooklyn and can be contacted at llubav.co@gmail.com.

On Nov.1st:
Screech Owl Design: Refined stationary, homewares and art
Joey Roth: The unique and handsome teapot
Oblik Atelier/ Mia Hebib: Limited edition exquisite jewelry design

Toast the evening in support of local design!

A contribution of $15 suggested. The wine's on us!

higher ground

Dear friends, I'm very excited to be able to show the work of two amazing artists this month. South Carolina artist Danna Ray and New York resident Jane Virga will show a collection of paintings and sculptures inspired by their love for the natural and the rural wilderness.

Join us this friday evening, Oct. 17th, from 6-8pm for the opening reception. Wine from our wonderful local Dandelion Wines will be served.

(photos, Jane getting her deer ready in the store, Danna's "in the light")

sneak peak

Thank you to everyone for their lovely comments regarding our sneak peak in design sponge this week. And a super big thank you to Kai, my family and Grace and Anne! xo

flowers for martha

A little personal note here as I embark on my first project for Martha Stewart Weddings (thanks to the brilliant Vanessa Holden). You'll be finding me at the store a lot these days, sipping Tay tea in the light of my starlightz, designing with flowers in mind...

sweet songs

Our very wonderful au pair Marius volunteered to model for jan & äya a few weeks ago. With the help of the incredible hair styling talent of my friend Yasu, Marius' sweet serenades transported us back to the folk days of the 60's. (thank you Tuva, our neighbor's loving chow dog, for being part of our shoot)

open calls, sweet weekends and our community & the world all this saturday

1. OPEN CALLS: Interested artists and designers should contact us by email or phone to make an appointment. Open calls will be held every first tuesdays (6-8pm) and saturday (6-8pm) of the month. Currently we are looking for work that would coincide with our "alpine" fall theme, but are open to see all works for future shows. Please email us and wonderful new intern, Sarah, will contact you to schedule an appointment.

2. SWEET WEEKENDS: Sarah's Goldies return this weekend!

3. OUR COMMUNITY & THE WORLD: great discussions on life, politics and society. Join fellow New York citizens for a casual breakfast, hosted by my husband, Kai Krienke.

fall is here

It may seem that all has been quiet here at jan & äya. Lots of new things are arriving for fall including the amazing Tay Teas by tea connoisseur Nini Ordoubali and wood earring by montreal designer Orno (see photos above).

I've also been working away planning an exciting october and november! To give you a sneak peak, here are some the events to come:
1. First of all for all of you who have been asking and craving, our "sweet weekends" with Sarah Magid's confections will return this coming weekend!
2. open call days: starting saturday oct.4th we will hold our first open call from 1-3pm. Interested artists and designers should contact us by email or phone to make an appointment. Open calls will be held every first tuesdays (6-8pm) and saturday (6-8pm) of the month. Currently we are looking for work that would coinside with our "alpine" fall theme, but are open to see all works for future shows. Our wonderful new intern, Sarah, will contact you to schedule an appointment.
3. danna ray: The beautiful work of south carolina artist, Danna Ray will be on exihibit from October 17th to Nov. 30th. Her delicate and modern forest mountain scenes will grace the walls of our store. Come join us on Friday Oct. 17th from 6-8pm for an opening reception to kick off our fall season.
4. greenpoint design conference: Ok, I'm super excited about this one. Please save the date on your calender for our very first "greenpoint design conference" on Saturday, October 25th. Five super talented local designers will share their work and their thoughts for what I believe will be a truly inspiring evening. $15 a person, wine and cheese on us!
More to come!

solidarity and love

This saturday was a wonderful mix of community awareness and art as we hosted two events. Kai Krienke will be holding his very popular "community and the world" discussion groups every other saturday in our garden from 11-1pm. $10 a person including delicious pastries, coffee and juice. I can't imagine a better way to have brunch. For more information please click here. Kathleen Scully, a very talented local designer held "detaching, with love" all saturday in the shop and it was a great success. Inspired by the process of letting go a collection of her works and sketches were curated. Hurry on by since her show is up only a week and not much is left!

a lovely sunday

My beautiful daughter generously and patiently spent her sunday with me at the store while I labored over my accounting and other administrative tasks. Here she is after an inspired moment of arranging our Holztiger animal collection as well as a few other pictures of the day.

bake sale for Obama

Our bake sale on June 21st was a big success and thank you Kristin for pulling it all together! And to our wonderful enterprising little ones who came up with the most creative ways to add to our donation. From lemonade for Obama, hola hoop, magic tricks and dancing... this was definitely an innovative afternoon!

local lux

jan & äya will be graced with exquiste jewelry of two amazing greenpoint designers, Mia Hebib of Oblik Atelier and Lisa Levine's new "spirit" collection. Along with the lovely pieces from local Bon Bon Oiseau our Greenpoint collection is being born. They will be housed in a new display shelf being built this week by the very talented artist and sculptor George Schmidt (see previous post). Details will come soon!