Contact:
Eileen Viscontini, Scarlet Threads
eileen@scarletthreads.org
Dignity Never Goes Out of Style: Linking Moms with Scarlet Threads Spring Line
Beijing, China, April 21, 2010 – With Mother’s Day just around the corner, Scarlet Threads, a small social enterprise based in rural China, is gearing up to link Asian mothers with American mothers by their apron strings. Scarlet Threads has just released their 2010 Spring Line, including unique aprons and linen handbags in preparation for Mother’s Day and the spring/summer wedding season.
“These new products are beautiful,” says Carrie McKean, Scarlet Threads co-founder. “But what’s more beautiful is the transformation occurring in the lives of the women behind each stitch.”
No matter which country they call home, women care about the same things -- their children and their families. Scarlet Threads products make a great gift for Mom on her special day, and when you purchase a boutique-quality item, you become intricately connected to a woman half a world away. What better way to honor Mom than by empowering a mother just like her? A mother like Dou, whose husband’s mounting medical bills left the family impoverished and unable to provide for themselves. She’s now working for Scarlet Threads and is able to pay her son’s school fees!
Scarlet Threads is a compassionate boutique, specializing in unique products created by talented seamstresses in rural Asia. Scarlet Threads exists to make its core vision of "Work. Dignity. Beauty." a reality in the lives of its partner seamstresses by empowering them through fair trade employment. Each woman works in the safety of her own home and is able to adjust her working hours to meet the needs of her family. By not asking the seamstresses to lower the cost of their labor, sharing 5% of profits with the artisans, and an additional 5% donated to developmental projects in Scarlet Threads home village in rural China, the local community finds a compassionate influx of money in the local economy. Visit them on the web at: http://www.scarletthreads.org/
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I have returned safe and rejuvenated from my girls' weekend in Albuquerque with two of my sisters-in-law to be! Sadly, Carrie could not fly in for the occasion, but she was truly missed. To celebrate the occasion, we decided to make dessert for dinner!
Calories per serving: 310
2. Green Onions is celebrating their blogoversary by giving away our Phoebe apron. Do help support their blogtivity, enter the contest, and wish them a many happy return. - Ends April 26th
Remember when I said there was another surprise in our new shipment of products? Besides the Olivia, Lucy, and Elle? Well... this is what it is...
Xindi came over this weekend with a recipe for our Tasty Tuesday segment that her coworker Carlos had made for his last get-together. When she told him we were going to put it on the blog, he was ecstatic! (I didn't see for his response for myself, but let's imagine he was indeed ecstatic). We donned our aprons to make it an official Scarlet Threads event and set to work.
Spring is here, the birds are twittering, the snow is melting (in some parts of the country), and in Texas the wildflowers that line our highways and adorn our pastures are in full bloom. In the spirit of this spreading joy, we would love to see our customers in their elements and in our aprons. So, we designed a contest:
Here's how to play: Take a fun picture of an apron – be as creative as you can because you are representing your state. ST Apron pictures will receive brownie points, you can be present in the picture or not. Submit the picture and the state in which you reside to Eileen@ScarletThreads.org. We are hoping to reach all 50 states this month!Contest Ends: Midnight -- May 1st, 2010!
Rules: This goes without saying: Safety First. This, too, goes without saying: be appropriate, be funny, be creative, be sentimental, be a state-patriot (a Stateriot?)!
If you would like credit for facebook, twitter, internet bonuses please provide links to your facebook page, the websites that feature your photo, your blog post that features the contest, the post that features your photo submission, and your twitter handle. If you find other sites to post your photo before the May 1st deadline, do send an update before the contest closes. Please include Apron Party Host requests in your photo submission email.
Entries will be scored on the following criteria:
*unreached states: Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Arkansas, Wisconsin Nevada, Mississippi, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
Easter Sunday was here before we knew it! We spent the weekend on Lake Travis at the beautiful wedding of our friends Allen and Lauren. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day: the weather was perfect, the flowers were in bloom, the bride was gorgeous, and the eyes of the groom were moist.
While we wait for the pork to cook, I'm going to take a few moments to talk about my new Convection Oven. We have begun a torrid love affair! It cuts cooking time by 25%, is wonderfully efficient, and cooks evenly. I told Carrie of my joy last night and it was one of those open-mouth-insert-foot moments. Of the things that Carrie misses from her former life in the US, two rank near the top: kitchen counters that are the appropriate height for her stature and an oven that is larger than a shoebox. She affectionately refers to her apartment oven as "Easy Bake." No harm done, however. I will actually say that smaller ovens might be better for even baking than big non-convection ovens. I can't tell you how many times my mother has told me about the tiny oven in my parents' first apartment. "It was perfect," she always exclaims, "it would cook a roast beautifully! Medium rare, end to end!" And, I would say from her pictures, Carrie's shoebox oven is hardly holding her back as a Baker.
