TUMBLED STONE FOR TUMBLERS
In September, just as shoppers around Acadiana were making promises to themselves to do their Christmas shopping early, a new gift market arrived. Le Cadeau offers a unique experience with a host of individual vendors and artists selling one-of-a-kind gifts from jams, preserves and pickled peppers to antiques and religious pieces to hand-crafted jewelry. Take Kathy Whipp's coasters, for example, an accessory that will encourage conversation instead of extinguishing it.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Written by The Independent Staff
TUMBLED STONE FOR TUMBLERS
In September, just as shoppers around Acadiana were making promises to themselves to do their Christmas shopping early, a new gift market arrived. Le Cadeau offers a unique experience with a host of individual vendors and artists selling one-of-a-kind gifts from jams, preserves and pickled peppers to antiques and religious pieces to hand-crafted jewelry. Take Kathy Whipp's coasters, for example, an accessory that will encourage conversation instead of extinguishing it. Kathy's Kreations offers tiles and coasters made of Indian slate, honed Indian slate, Italian porcelain and tumbled stone from Turkey. No two are alike, and a set of four coasters is $12. "Everyone here is doing what they love," says Le Cadeau owner Kathy Padget. The gift shop also gives a monthly gift to charity, and December's is going to the Children's Shelter. Usually, the gift consists of donations and proceeds from patrons, but Padgett says individual vendors have joined in the monthly gift-giving as well. Le Cadeau is open Tuesday-Saturday right in front of Hampton Toyota on Johnston Street. - Hope Rurik
BLACKBIRD FLY
While an original Clementine Hunter painting may be out of reach for most Christmas shoppers, there's another way to give an image from the iconic Louisiana folk artist. Louisiana Living, an online merchant based in New Iberia, is offering an exclusive line of gifts in its Clementine Hunter collection. The "Bird Pillow" features a blackbird design printed on elegant oyster linen. Hunter's bird is a member of the flocks of blackbirds that gather each fall in the pecan orchards of the Cane River region where Hunter lived and painted. The rare bird design was first discovered in a private Hunter collection painted on a kitchen recipe box. It's well documented that throughout Hunter's career she would paint many scenes on ordinary household items like wine bottles, cooking kettles and lamp shades. The bird pillow motif was adapted by Lafayette designer Mallory Page; the flip side features Hunter's distinctive signature. The pillow is a large, 20-inch square and filled with soft feather down. The pillow retails for $175 and can be purchased online at www.louisianaliving.com or the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. - Mary Tutwiler
INK, INC.
Give the gift of vernacular this Christmas with a witty, wonderful T-shirt from Parish Ink, an online purveyor of apparel bearing slogans and iconography unique to Lafayette and Louisiana. The brainchild of brother-sister designer duo Bram and Jillian Johnson - the latter is The Ind's favorite musician-designer-web developer-community activist-KRVS radio host (phew!) - and on the Web at www.ParishInk.com, the site offers Ts with such catchy slogans as "Ain't Boudin Grand?" "Bruh!" "Enjoy Louisiana Plate Lunches" and "I Wanna Be Loved Bayou." The site also offers Saints related T-shirts that cleverly skirt copyright law by using combinations of pictures and words (think "Drew" + the image of an animated cloud blowing a breeze). The shirts are $20 and make great stocking stuffers. - Walter Pierce