Lounge with Raksha Bella Organic

Raksha Bella Organic in Bolly instyle

Raksha Bella Organic Textiles

April 7, 2010

For all you organicphiles, I found a new bedding company that will make your heart skip a few beats. Raksha Bella’s line of fabulous duvets, quilts, shams, and pillowcases are made of 100% certified organic cotton and are handmade and hand-block printed in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

All Raksha Bella products endures a handcrafted quality, which means each textile pattern will naturally have slight variation in color and texture. I love them all – Indian Rose, Raj Paisley, Tree of Life.

Raksha Bella also recently launched a line of comfy pajamas and tunics. See the entire Raksha Bella collection right here. The look is SO rustic yet fresh…

Thank you Bolly instyle! 

Kudos to Jess Brown!

We are so very excited to see Jess Brown‘s incredibly adorable dolls for Raksha Bella. We couldn’t dream of a better way to use our fabric than to make these super cute dolls - love seeing our Medallion Ministar in Beaujolais and Star in dried Tobacco on these dolls... the fabric suits them perfectly!  Each doll is hand dyed in Persian black teas to create variations in skin tones and stuffed with a sustainable corn fiber stuffing.   Bridget Bradley from Reclaim ordered these, you can find them in her shop in Menlo Park (unless they have already been snatched up)!  Truly inspiring…  Thanks Jess!

A December Devotional to Duvets

If this were the 14^th century, you might be saving the feathers from the geese you plucked for more than a year to make yourself a duvet, which you would then pass down through many generations of your family.

In Europe, many people sleep only between 2 duvets, eliminating the need for sheets and blankets, and the bother of making the bed! When I heard this, I tried it myself and I loved it!

Winter is the duvet’s signature season, evoking moods for snuggling in mounds of warm, poofy down with hot tea or chocolate, and a good book while the winter season moves and stills outside. The winter holiday times have long been the most popular time to gift a duvet to someone, indeed it’s the time of year to give in to the occasional desire to stay in bed a bit longer than usual, so give permission to indulge and lounge!

Fun Duvet Facts:

Name for duvets around the world:

¨ Scandinavian: “Dyne”

¨ Pakistan: “Ralli Quilts”

¨ France: Duvet (origin of the word)

¨ Germany: “Federbeden”

In the U.K. and other European countries, when employees take a personal day off from work, it’s called a “duvet day”.

In Europe, sleeping under duvets is so popular, that many couples have refined it to an art of adaptability: they put two twin duvets on a full or queen-sized bed so that they may each enjoy their own preferred thickness!

Duvets are coming into style with the younger generation now. The gothic clothing store Hot Topic has a new duvet set based on the popular vampire television series “Twilight”.

So indulge yourself, cozy up to the season, and have a dreamy duvet day…

A Holiday Update from Our Friends at Bash Eco Events

This is such a lovely post from our friends at Bash that we decided to post it here for anyone who missed it...

Holiday Loveliness

Remember my Design*Sponge post about these? Well, this is what they look like come the holidays.

Lots of loveliness from the talented designers + curators of TRUNKSHOW. Their stuff is beyond words. Da eco-luxe bomb. My client’s guests were shopping WELL into the night + I think I saw some drool coming out of one lady’s mouth. Napkin please. Check out their awesomeness here. I’ve already got my wish list for Christmas.

And hello? My partner in crime, this cool cat, created the most killer sweets table EVER. The guests were gushing over her cuppies + her creative display of snow whites + winter greens. It is now a future staple at all bash-TRUNKSHOW events. I could not ask for a better collaborator in design. Kelly + I share a brain and her execution of this table was beyond!

I’m so beyond grateful for collaborating with such brilliant people. I truly believe you are only as good as your team, + these ladies make me better at what I do. My hats off to you + you.

Gratitude to Bees

A bee stung Eros on the nose
While he was smelling on a rose
“Mother Venus,  ay,ay,ay
Please help me or I’ll die
What a terrible disgrace
A dragon bit me on my face”!
Venus comforts first her son
then speaks to him with mocking fun:
The little bee’s tiny sting
Is for you an earnest thing
But more painful and real hard
are your stings in human’s heart.

A. Dürer, 1514: Eros, Venus and the bees

Humans have long had a symbiotic relationship with honeybees. We provide them with shelter and care, and in return, they not only provide us with honey and bee pollen for our health and pleasure, they pollinate 35% of our food crops! Our lives are inextricably intertwined with the lives of bees. Honeybees are behind every cheerful bloom of spring flowers, and every abundant harvest on the Thanksgiving table.

Many honeybees in recent years are disappearing due to Colony Collapse Disorder. We at Raksha Bella choose to see this as an opportunity for transformation. By calling our attention to the need for healthy change, the plight of bees all over the world is a gentle call, reminding us of the interconnectedness of life on the planet, and of how our choices today will resonate into the future lives of all beings on Earth.

Although no conclusive evidence has been drawn as to the exact causes of CCD, many of the studies point to conventional farming practices as at least partly responsible: the use of multiple toxic pesticides and fertilizers, genetically modified crops, and monoculture have all led to a loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity is essential for all life on earth to grow healthy and abundant. The interconnectedness between organic farming and saving the bees is indisputable. Conventional and Monoculture farming is responsible for poisons in our soil and bodies, the destruction of ancient human agricultural traditions all over the globe, and global food shortages. Conventional cotton crops use 25% of the entire world’s pesticides! Ouch! In contrast, organic farming promotes biodiversity, blesses us with higher crop yields and more nutrient-rich foods, promotes fair labor practices, and reduces the toxic load on our depleted soils. This is why we choose to use all certified organic cotton for Raksha Bella products.

Spread the beauty and harmony of nature into homes and hearts all over the globe. Believe that healthy, abundant food for all people is beautiful; believe that the cycles of the seasons are beautiful; that harmony between people, plants, and creatures is beautiful, and that organic products we touch and sleep in, with limited impact on our ecosystem are beautiful!

Ally yourself with beauty! Gratitude to the honeybees!

Wishing you blessings of health, bounty and beauty this autumn

Eco-Home Highlight: Think Green. Think SPRING (even in summer!)

A warm and heartfelt thank you to our friends at Spring on Post Street in San Francisco for creating the perfect home for our eco-bedding.
As we grow, so do our like-minded partners who believe that a greener home is conducive to a happier, more serene lifestyle. And that is truly contagious!
We are thrilled to see the ever-expanding selection of environmentally-friendly lifestyle products, the enthusiasm of our retailers and ultimately, their customers. Once a vision of the future, we sleep well knowing that the demand for greener home products is quickly becoming a way of life. Stop by, say hello and check out their unique and fabulous assortment of inspiring products!

Quilted Deco Pillows - Indian Rose in Dusty Cedar with Peonie in Warm Taupe (pictured)