Martha Framed

Now's your chance to own a photograph that was snapped by Martha Stewart, herself! Martha Stewart Living has launched a new venture on its website, selling framed photographs taken by Martha in three different price ranges.

There are three signed, limited edition prints that retail for $1200 each. There are only 100 prints of each photograph and each one is personally signed by Martha.

There are eight limited edition prints that retail for between $400 and $600 each. There are only 900 prints of each of these. And, at a more affordable price, there are four open-ended edition prints that are selling for $250 each.

Each framed photograph is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. This document certifies that this is an approved giclée print from the archives of Martha Stewart’s photographs. Each image is also embossed with her personal Cantitoe Corners insignia, a stylized sycamore tree.

The 15 prints currently for sale are only the first batch. There will be more available in the future, including photographs taken by Martha on her travels around the world. The current photos are all taken on Martha's Bedford and Skylands properties: a sunlit porch at dawn, a cascade of vines over a granite wall at Skylands, horses grazing near the stables and unique sculptures on the terrace at sunset.

Martha Stewart personally selected each frame and mat to best pair with each image. The all-wood frame is crafted and hand-finished using superior quality materials; archival quality Plexiglas is UV protected to resist fading from sunlight exposure; and the matting and mounting materials utilize Artcare™, a patented anti-aging and anti-yellowing technology to maximize the life of the artwork. Artcare™ archival framing technology has been widely recognized and adopted by top museums and art conservators around the world as a protection against pollutants that might harm print longevity.

I'm not sure what the shipping details are yet, but I've asked for more information. The handling of this operation has been outsourced to a new partner of Omnimedia, Neilson Bainbridge in New Jersey. You can browse all the prints at the following link. You can also order a catalog, or download the PDF version to print yourself.

Five percent of the proceeds of these art prints will go towards supporting the Martha Stewart Center for Living in Manhattan.

http://www.marthastewartframedphotography.com/

Beekman 1802

One of my favourite new columns in Martha Stewart Living is the "Doctor/Patient" column by Dr. Brent Ridge, who is Executive Vice President of Healthy Living at the company and hosts the radio show "Ask Dr. Brent" on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite. He also helped Martha create the Center for Living at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, a new facility for the management of chronic health conditions and for the promotion of healthy aging.



It turns out that Dr. Ridge is a man of many talents! He and his partner, author Josh Kilmer-Purcell, have a farm in the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where they devote time to what they call a "shared experiment in seasonal living." The farm features a large mansion that was built in 1802 (once owned by a judge) that was fully restored by its previous owner. It is now home to an heirloom vegetable garden and and organic soap-making operation run by Brent and Josh and several busy helpers.

The Estate

I was touched by the idea of the project after seeing Dr. Ridge on "Martha" and decided to support his venture. I do agree that we've gotten out of synch with nature, with the rhythms of natural life and the beauty of subtle cyclical changes that take place all around us. We're so harried and busy now - preoccupied by technology and speed.

I decided to order some of his organic goats-milk soap and was very glad that I did. The two bars of soap arrived in a beautiful cloth bag, stamped with a lovely logo. They were individually wrapped and tied with twine. And they are lovely soaps: smooth, buttery and lightly scented. The soap is also accompanied by a little card with the name of the one who made your particular batch of soap. In my case, it was Brent.

I love those personal touches!

This is what my order looked like. You can also buy a larger batch of soap in a sturdy wooden box or chemical free bug repellant soap. Next on my list - some beautiful hand woven linens made on their farm.



Visit his site and tour the estate, read about the ups and downs of organic farming and enjoy the natural sites: http://www.beekman1802.com

Ottawa's Tulip Festival

Each spring, Ottawa's grounds are covered by over one million tulips that all pop into bloom in early May. They are planted in large, monochromatic beds around the city by the National Capital Commission and are maintained until the end of the month. Each year, over 500,000 people visit Ottawa to see the astounding variety and multitudes of tulips. There are also horticultural exhibits, tulip shops, music and dance performances and photo and painting galleries set up around the sites. Ottawa's International Tulip Festival has a rather interesting history, one that is tied to the Dutch Royal Family. In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, in the Second World War. The most noteworthy event during their time in Canada was the birth in 1943 of Princess Margriet to Princess Juliana at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The maternity ward was declared to be officially a temporary part of the Netherlands, so that the birth could formally be claimed to have occurred on Dutch territory. In 1946, Juliana sent another 20,500 bulbs requesting that a display be created for the hospital, and promised to send 10,000 more bulbs each year. Below are some photos I took of the tulips yesterday, under blissful May sunshine! Enjoy!

Martha's Got Milk

Martha will be featured in a new Milk ad that will run in magazines across America starting in June. Below are some facts about cereal's best friend and a few of the photos from Martha's session.

Whole Milk

Whole milk has a rich, creamy taste. It contains on average 3.25 percent fat, 150 calories, and 8 grams of fat per serving, the highest of any form of milk. Unlike reduced-fat varieties, whole milk is not required to be fortified with vitamin D, so be sure to check the nutritional information. It is excellent to use in baking when a recipe calls for milk.


Two-Percent Reduced-Fat Milk

Two percent milk contains 2 percent fat, 120 calories, and 5 grams of fat per serving. Vitamins A and D are removed with the milk fat, but must be readded so that the milk contains at least 2,000 IU of vitamin A, and 400 IU of vitamin D per quart -- these vitamins are required for 1 percent and skim milk, as well. It is the most popular variety sold in North America.

One Percent Low fat Milk

One percent milk is also called light milk. It contains 1 percent fat, 100 calories, and 2.5 grams of fat per 8 fluid ounces.

Skim Milk

Skim milk is also referred to as fat-free or nonfat milk. It must contain less than .5 percent milk fat by weight; it has 80 calories and 0 grams of fat per serving. Skim deluxe or skim supreme has the look and feel of 2 percent milk without the extra fat and calories.
Strike a pose!On her show last week, Martha explained that the frothy white patch on the upper lip really is a combination of various kinds of milk. She had to repeatedly submerge her upper lip into the mixture to get it to stay put! Below is Martha's milk ad from 1997. It was photographed by Annie Leibowitz. Martha says the crew offered the cow to her to keep, but that she didn't have the room for it at the time. Below the 1997 photo is the finished 2008 milk ad.