AW12 is upon us – Autumn Orchard!

We love this time of the year.  Autumn is without a doubt our largest collection and we love putting the final tweaks to designs and finally seeing what they actually look like.  No more paper, sketches, swatches and test stitching, instead we see our collection as final, wearable shoes and boots – this time Autumn Orchard.

Our collection is rustic meets splashes of colour so we have aptly named it Autumn Orchard.  Whilst you can eat oranges and tangerines all summer they are most popular around November/Dec especially and especially in Xmas stockings. Lime fruits may be more suited to a G&T that we find particularly warming in on a cold winter’s night.

Whilst leopard isn’t so fruity it adds contrast to some of our more classic blacks and browns such as these brogues.

We’ve really to-ed and fro-ed with this collection to give it the ultimate classics with twists that so many of you were now asking for. We hope you enjoy wearing it as much as we have enjoyed designing it and shooting it in the woods.

Grrrrr just which style to choose?

a&j

Super Brands or Champions of Design?

There are brands and Superbrands – and now Cool Brands and Champions of design!  Call them what you will yet they all have the same fundamentals – each brand is well-designed, has a logo that is consistently used on packaging and advertising and has distinct features that make it easily identifiable and iconic so that we don’t even need to see the name or entire logo to recognise instantly what it is – like the adorable puppy we all know to be part of the Andrex brand.

UK consumer “Superbrands” list Mercedes-Benz, Rolex and BBC as being in the top spots closely followed by Coca Cola, Google and Microsoft. 

Here are some of our other favourites – can you guess what brand they are for?

Curly hair no more…

These sexy air stewardesses will make any man’s flight more entertaining!

No words needed – except for yum!

Champions of design emphasizes that design is not separate from the product but is part of it.

You may recognise this one in any book shop:

Love it or hate it – we actually adore it!

So what’s your favourite superbrand, cool brand or champion of design??

Cranberry treats – fruity leftovers no more!

So you didn’t finish all the cranberries and cranberry sauce this Xmas??  Worry not as we’re full of ideas for turning left overs into fabulous new treats. 

With cranberries being full of antioxidants that protects cells from damage by unstable molecules called free radicals, as if you need another reason to recycle any excess!

Cranberry Sauce & Almond Muffins – YUM with a capital Y!

In a large bowl, combine 1½ cups plain flour, ½ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt. In another bowl, combine 2 eggs, ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup butter, melted and ¼ teaspoon almond extract; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in ½ cup sliced almonds.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups half full; drop 1 tablespoon cranberry sauce into the centre of each muffin. Cover with enough batter to fill cases till about 2/3 full; sprinkle with remaining almonds.

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. 

Cranberry & Walnut Bread

Takes a little more time to prepare yet well worth the wait! Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Then mix 2 cups of self-raising flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of chopped cranberries and ¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts.

Separately mix together ¾ cup orange juice, ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup butter, 1 egg beaten, and 1 tablespoon orange peel. Add the flour/cranberry/nut mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour into a greased 9×5 or 8×4 loaf pan.

Bake at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes or until done (a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).  Cool in a pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Then just add brie or swiss cheese and toast slighlty so oozing….

The British Trifle – Our staple favourite!

Very quick and easy – plus a bonus if you have some slightly dry cake that you are trying to use up also!  Spoon cranberry sauce into the bottle of a glass, add some pieces of swiss roll or cake and add another layer of cranberry sauce.  Just pour over a layer of jelly and allow to set in the fridge.

Whip up some custard and allow it to cool slightly (so as not to un-set the jelly) and pour over the jelly layer.  Allow to set again before adding another layer of cranberry sauce and then a layer of cream.

Then with all guns blazing add sprinkles, sparklers, chocolate drops or whatever surprises you can find in your cupboard!

Cranberry BBQ Sauce

For those of you with a slightly less sweet tooth, we recommend using this fabulous sauce for a savory treat.

In a saucepan, heat 2 cups of cranberries, 2/3 cup of sugar, ¼ cup of orange juice and 1 teaspoon of garlic salt until the sugar dissolves and the berries have popped. Add your usual BBQ sauce and stir until well blended.

Then use to dunk your BBQ cooked ribs, steaks and burgers. Serve warm.

So good luck girls – go with the cranberries!  We hope you enjoy making these recipes as much as you enjoy tasting them (and as much as we have enjoyed tasting them too!)!

That’s one monster slipper!

We chuckled when we saw the image of this GIANT slipper this week!

One huge, monster slipper with one tiny, token size next to it!  Tom was longing to have some monster slippers (seriously!) to fit his size 14 (left) and 14.5 (right) feet.  So he found a company making them in smaller sizes and asked for his very own, bespoke larger pair.

Delighted that the manufacturer could help him, when the slippers arrived he had one size 14 right foot and very rapidly (must have been due to the high number of delivery men helping unload this giant monster!) learned that there had been an error with the decimal point – so the right slipper was not size 14.5 and instead was a whopping size 1,450! Apparently workers in the slipper factory assumed his giant order was for a shop window display.

The fact that no one spotted the error along the way does make us question their quality controls although for the amount of amusement this image gave us we’re pleased that this one slipped through the net.  Tom now has a full length body warmer!

That will certainly keep him warm…

 

Flying the flags for North America and Canada

As a brand we are pretty interntaional and ship to many countries world-wide including some more exotics such as Chile and Qatar.  We’re always open to new ideas and stamp collecting for our A&J passport so if you live in a country where we don’t yet ship then do let us know and we’ll ask our Mr Wonderful IT guy and Mr Lovely Courier guy to see if we can, pretty please, get our shoes to you.

This week’s focus has been North America and Canada.  Waking up (a whole 8 hours behind the time zone!) to find ourselves in the Wall Street Journal has meant you glossy well-groomed Manhattan ladies are now well-versed in our brand. As we’re sure you’re aware there is a 2 shoe size difference between US and UK sizing so if you are size 12 in USA then you are likely to be size 10 with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As if we need an excuse to jump on a plane to New York, of course we do!

Also our lovely new team member Johanna is based in Toronto and is fitting women out of our office there.  With larger feet of her own she understands exactly what we need and has a wide selection of our styles to check your size and width.  Do get in touch if you’d like to be fitted personally.

So all that is now waiting is for us to book our next holiday to pop across the pond!

Crazy Week – We won 2011 Specsavers Business Woman of Year Award!

This week was one of those crazy, mad yet incredibly fun weeks to go down in prominent A&J history!

Starting on Wednesday 14th September in The Savoy Hotel, London, that was the venue for 2011 Specsavers Everywoman in Retail Awards.  Our Founder Catherine Owens had been shortlisted to the final 3 for ‘Leader of the Year – In a Business with a Turnover of less than £200 million’ (we obviously just snuck in there under the turnover category, or perhaps rather easily!).  Up against a Manager at Dorothy Perkins and the Managing Director of Crew Clothing.

The awards were established to help readdress the gender balance in management roles within retail by highlighting inspirational role models and their accomplishments. They draw attention to women in the industry who have shattered glass ceilings through hard work and determination to succeed.

In a fabulous ball room of The Savoy and after a scrumptuous dinner, we had insightful talks by Maxine Benson MBE and Karen Gill MBE the Everywoman Founders and then Gaby Roslin was the entertaining host for presenting the Awards.

Then the nail-biting moment of truth when Sue Brownson OBE, the Group Managing Director of Blue Bell BMW Group who was sponsoring this particular Award entered the stage and read out….. wait for it…. Catherine Owens as being the winner!

Astounded but also delighted she made her way onto the stage to accept the fabulous glass handbag trophy Award.  Yes it really is in the shape of a handbag – solid and engraved, incredibly and deliciously gorgeous!

Determined to not just say thank you, Catherine told the audience her favourite quote from Maud van de Venne “Successful women can still have their feet on the ground.  They just wear better shoes.” And then said that with her size 10 feet, now she had A&J she was delighted she could finally wear nice shoes!

Being presented the Award by Karen Gill and Sue Brownson OBE :

With all the other winners – all 7 of us! Plus Karen Gill and Maxine Benson :

All images copyright everywoman ltd.

At the end of the Awards ceremony, Dame Mary Perkins, the Founder of Specsavers gave a speech and then we headed off for some more champagne!

So to the wonderful judges who voted for us – we’re so chuffed, thank you for choosing us! We are still on a high!!!!!!

Chocolate Tasting Extravaganza – Thurs 15th Sept!

A secret gem of a venue, Adam Street is a hidden Private Members’ Club just off The Strand, London.

This Thursday 15th Sept from 6.30pm onwards it is the venue for our chocolate tasting and shoes event – whereby you can learn some snippets about chocolate and it’s manufacture, check out and try-on our new Amber & Jade Collection – plus of course, sample some luxurious chocolate!

Steeped with history, the club itself situated in beautiful and unexpected vaults, deep beneath the Strand and was built originally by Robert Adam in 1769.  We are delighted to host our first chocolate tasting extravaganza there.

Chuffed to bits are we that we have two fabulous chocolate brands to share with you all, both of which are very British, highly innovative and were founded close to the Millennium.

Montezuma’s has a fabulous range of treats from bars to truffles to mini and after dinner indulgences.  Based in their beautiful West Sussex factory and founded by a husband and wife team, they have a handful of shops and pride themselves on being highly innovative.  Our favourite being the dark chocolate with orange and geranium – that also happens to be organic.

The other fabulous chocolate brand that we also love was started by Gerard who trained as a chocolatier in Belgium before returning to London and founding Artisan du chocolat.  Passionate about his products and hands on in the production atelier he is based in Ashford, Kent. In particular we are very partial to their Artisan Indulgence Box – pure dark chocolate heaven!

So if your mouth is already watering and you’d like to pop along and sample some fabulous chocolate, then do let us know so we can put your name on the guest list hello@amberandjade.com

If you’re exhausted from all the tasting, why not relax in the Adam Street bar and lounge with comfy sofas afterwards, or even try out their restaurant?

A girl’s new best friend – Montezuma’s luxurious chocolate

We’ve found a new best friend that is luxurious, exotic, smooth and sensational  and an affordable substitue for a real sparkler – Lordy Lord, Motezuma’s Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs.

The one in the vibrant blue hue packaging, it is organic dark chocolate with an extra special ingredient that we particularly love that gives it its adorable and slightly crunchy texture – cacao nibs (the inside of the cacao bean).  Suitable for vegans too.

Montezuma’s was founded in 2000 by ex-lawyers turned chocolate entrepreneurs, Helen and Simon Pattinson.  They started hand making their chocolate with one little machine and one shop in Brighton.  Fabulous innovators, they range now includes truffles, bars, jars and ‘dainty dollops’ (another one of our favourites) plus who could miss their Great British Pudding Bars oh so loyal Brits that we are!

Already the brand is now far reaching across the globe and has stores in Brighton, Kingston, Chichester and London to name a few!

On evening of Thursday 14th September we’re holding our own chocolate tasting event in a Private Club, The Strand, London and all our customers are invited. Why – do we need an excuse to throw a party??!  Your chance to get an insight into the world of chocolate plus of course taste some wonderful chocolate for yourself. If you’d like to pop along, drop us a line and we’ll add you to the guest list.

So girls, we suggest you get munching!

Run rabbit, run!

Every Sunday just outside Old Spitalfields Market in Bishops Square, we’re always intrigued by white bunnies that are frolicking outside the Allen & Overy building.

We decided to investigate further and have discovered the rabbits were designed by Paul Cox in 2009. His quirky sculpture has been made with the area’s rich history in mind, from the very earliest days of Spitalfields, when it was once a grazing area for cattle, next to the priory.

Six oversized white rabbits frolic on the grass, while picnickers and passers by look on. It begs the question…why?

Rabbits live in large, tight knit communities, not unlike the diverse communities of people that live in the East End today. While workers, passers-by and visitors mingle with the rabbits, it mirrors the migrant spirit of the past.

The colony of clinical white rabbits, with golden eyes, is an echo of the spirit of Mary Spital, who in the year 1200, opened a hospital which was part of an Augustinian priory. Her spirit, brought to life, is set free in what is now a bustling urban environment.

In these uncertain times we all need an escape, a lift….this installation will certainly make you smile.

Paul Cox is an award winning sculptor specialising in mixed media construction. He was awarded the Henry Moore scholarship to study postgraduate sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools, London. His work is represented internationally in public and private collections. Paul now lives and works on the south coast where he works on gallery exhibition work and one-off commissions.

Tall World After All

Fancy a new great coffee time read?  We’ve just found Tall World After All.

Always trying to find any excuse not to work and instead to catch up on what’s hot and what’s not as well as what’s been going on in the world, we stumbled upon this new blog that is becoming a favourite!

Being tall is incredibly international and incredibly cool, as you all know and tall girl is from Canada originally but now lives in UK.  She started her blog to give her friends and family back home and update of her new life over here.  We’re delighted that she is now one of our customers too!

We love the way she describes tall girl, tall man, music man, tall mom etc so you know exactly how they fit into her life and we’re intrigued by Chinese Hair Spray – it sounds more like super glue!

So if you fancy finding another excuse not to work then do check out her fabulous blog!