If you buy your groceries from the neighborhood co-op, mourn the disappearance of farmers markets in the winter, and think small-batch craft beer is the only booze worth drinking, then the Access card’s for you.
The discount card — from Amanda Knorr, founder of online Boston boutique guide Spreedia, and Liana Krupp, founder of New Brahmin — launched in November and rewards you for choosing local shops over chains.
The purple card costs $40 and is good for one year. You’ll get 10 percent off full-priced merchandise at participating retailers, as well as inside news on area events and new products and members-only discounts. Clothing boutiques like Artifaktori, Wish, Sault, and Flock, and home decor spots like Acquire and J.E.M. are all on the growing roster.
—Ashley Wood
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This week, I made my biggest (and let’s be honest: first real) design decision ever: I painted an entire wall in my home black. Black as in chalkboard paint. I know I’m several years behind the wagon on this, but this paint is the decorating equivalent of a Little Black Dress for your wall. I’m a little obsessed.
But it’s a weird paint, too: if you’ve used it already, you’ll know it’s matte, textured to the touch and up close, it’s crackled like fine snakeskin even three coats thick. As it turns out, it’s packed with the same things you find in sunscreen, nail polish, car tires, and Egyptian pyramids. As an homage to my new favorite wall — and to one of my favorite Wired columns — here’s a breakdown of some of the key elements: READ MORE
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 Photo by Jupiterimages Lately, people have been saying to me, “Rachel, with the stock market acting like a runaway 3-year old with a bad caffeine habit, I’m having trouble staying on-trend.” I hear you — so I’ve created this simple design guide for a market that’s come off its hinges. Have a tip? Don’t hog it. Share in the comments section below.
Coffee table books
BULL says: Who has time to read when your portfolio’s smokin’?
BEAR says: Hardcovers are cheap and come in so many pretty colors!
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 A couple of months ago we fell in love with Etsy’s Shop Local option. Now we’ve discovered something even cooler: Mass Art Made, a brick-and-mortar store showcasing handmade goods by Mass Art’s students, alumni, and faculty members.
The store, which opened last month, offers a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind apparel, accessories, and décor – think Short Army knit hats, laptop cases screenprinted with original paintings, and jewelry galore ― along with a small selection of commercially produced goods from companies with employees who attended Mass Art. Artists submit a portfolio and are chosen by a jury of staff members, alumni, and local business owners. Then creative director and manager Ginger Russell chooses which pieces to display in the store and updates the selection every couple of weeks.
Prices range from $1.25 postcards to a $13,000 painting, and sales work on a consignment basis, with the artist receiving a 50 percent commission. The store also donates 10 percent of total sales to funding Mass Art scholarships. To further brand its contributors, the store displays QR codes next to specific pieces; when scanned, an interview with the artist who created the piece plays over the PA system.
While the school is following in the footsteps of other institutions, such as RISD, this type of shop is unique to Boston thus far. “Usually a store sells something very specific to meet a need,” says Russell, “but we have a radically different model to support the college.”
625 Huntington Ave., Boston, 617-879-7407, massartmade.com.
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Call me a late bloomer, but I just recently discovered the greatness that is Etsy’s Shop Local option. I was so excited by my “find” that I immediately emailed a fellow Bostonista scribe, who directed me to Pressbound, a shop stocked with letterpress cards, calendars, and journals in a variety of vintage-y, Polish-inspired designs (think: art deco flowers, playful fairy tale characters, and graphic birds). Everything is handmade using a combination of digital and block prints. Melissa Gruntkosky, the shop’s owner, is a freelance graphic designer and adjunct Emerson professor who teaches desktop publishing and design to grad students. Passing notes in class never looked so sophisticated.
etsy.com/shop/pressbound.
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By: Tanya Pai
When it comes to playing games, it often feels like our Wii-centric culture doesn’t put a high premium on face-to-face interaction. But Mary Ann Cyr of Norwell-based Little Squash Productions has developed a board game that’s literally a conversation starter. Olelo, named for the Hawaiian verb meaning to talk or tell, is appropriate for any age, and encourages families and friends to share stories and develop listening skills. READ MORE
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By: Alexandra Hall
Plenty of people look forward to the holidays as a time of meaningful authenticity. Me? I’ve been faking my way through the season since college. Not on the emotional front; on the contrary, I go all waterworks just watching the Grinch have his epiphany, every time. What I’m talking about is all the other expectations that come with Christmas: the hyper-cute, straight-from-the-heart-because-it’s-homemade crap that supposedly defines the holiday. These Martha Stewart–mandated gifts and crafts and food and doodads and decorations are supposed to warm our souls but actually just make me feel guilty for not having the time to make them. And yet admittedly, there’s no denying that the season just isn’t the same without it.
What to do? Fake instead of make it.
Exhibit A: The “from-scratch” chocolate-drizzled macaroons I slaved over for hours, which were actually born of an ultra-easy mix from Stonewall Kitchen and, in fact, took me 20 minutes to make. No one will recognize them (in spite of Stonewall’s ubiquity), because I doctored their chocolate blanket with cardamom and cinnamon — which lends an unusual spice to their sweetness, not to mention an oh-so-inventive luster of originality. READ MORE
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  By A. J. Downey
For some women, it’s their shoes. Others, it’s their collection of handbags. But me? I have my Simon Pearce. During my recent move to Boston, it was my Simon Pearce pieces that received the royal treatment. Not my jewelry. Not my picture frames. No, it was the Barre bowl (pictured), plus some other kitchen wares, that sat shotgun.
After 12 years, the glass and pottery store on Newbury is headed over to a bigger space, which is right down the street. (Doors open this Saturday.) And, it’s expected to borrow some elements from their Quechee flagship store, like a gallery to showcase some of their most stunning (and contemporary) pieces.
“We’ve designed the space to be simple, chic and modern, but at the same time warm, approachable and welcoming,” says Simon Pearce president Rob Adams. At home, you feel: The high ceilings and large bay windows are not unlike many Bostonian homes, but it’s the marvelous 4-foot glass chandelier — which was specially designed by Mr. Simon Pearce himself (pictured) — that you won’t find anywhere else.
The move was only 100 feet, but I would guess that plenty of pieces still sat in the front seat.
103 Newbury St., Boston, 617-450-8388, simonpearce.com.
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 Hi. Look, we need to talk. As per our agreement, I’m doing our shopping for us. I’m out there everyday looking at condos and spending my evenings combing zillow.com and trulia.com, and all of this is for us.
But I have to admit—the $300,000 we’d originally agreed to is a paltry sum, in spite of the economic collapse, etc. So I’m telling you now: We need more cash.
I hope it’s okay that I unilaterally decided to nudge the lever a bit to the right for us, for you and me. Because although we’d originally agreed to keep things, well, under control, I can assure you that searching in Brookline, Allston, and Cambridge for a lovely 2-bedroom for under $400K can seem a little like trying to find a Prada bag at a yard sale. READ MORE
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 Mesa Arts Center - Shauna Gillies-Smith of Ground for MSI (GroundInc.com) This week we were invited to speak to an extraordinary group of women. Called the Design Salon Boston, this informal organization brings together interior designers, architects, product designers, and writers once a month to talk about their trade and figure out how to do what they do better. We met up at the groundbreaking architectural firm, Utile, hosted by principal Mimi Love.
It’s about time someone figured how to gather the creative types in the city, but I was a little wary of the women-only bent. Wary, that is, until I witnessed its merits first-hand.
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