TO WIN: Leave a comment! ENTER BY 11/21 - WINNER: Cynthia in Texas!

Giveaway #2 (of what looks like around 30 giveaways in the calendar right now! isn't that insane! and it's all stuff i love too! I'm so exciting to be able to help share this stuff with all of you!!! ok moving on...), so as i was saying, Giveaway #2 for this holiday season is Joey Roth's Sorapot. He and i will be keeping an eye on all your comments, and he will dropship a (possibly customized/signed?) Sorapot to one lucky reader! You have until the night of 11/21 to leave a comment and we'll pick + email a winner!

The Sorapot story is definitely a design saga that is near and dear to many design/trend/gadget blogs - we've been watching, waiting, and nurturing Joey's design from the concept and prototype days ~ through production ~ through packaging design ~ through unboxings ~ and finally to brewing that first cup of tea. As you can see, its as much a work of art as it is a tea pot, and the packaging is one of my favorite parts, especially how the scroll like instructions curl off the glass body... So as a refresher, take a peek at a look back at some of my pics on the next page, and leave a comment for your chance to win one!

TO PAGE 2 of "NOTCOT Giveaway 2: Sorapot"! ----->

Tags: gifts - giveaway - shopping - tea - teapot

More designer pieces to fall in love with... Tina Tsang of Undergrowth Design's Blaue Blume Tea Set, they certainly make you look twice... in a good way! Handmade in England, these earthenware pieces are beautiful and extremely detailed, and you can't help but giggle when you see the gold shoes on the legs coming off of the tea cup, milk, and sugar bowl, especially when you have to grab the legs to pick them up! They are available in pure white or pure flesh tones, as well as with gold/silver/red shoes. In fact, if you order at least 10 of a particular piece, she will even paint the shoes the color of your choice... can't you imagine a Louboutin set with black shoes, and red soles? Perfectly dainty, with just enough edginess, if i had to throw a tea party, you know it would have to be in these.

Also, on a slight sidetrack, i ended up at The Back Room in the Lower East Side last night... you know the type... hidden back entrance, after you get past the bouncer at the gate, wander through a dark alley/staircase, and pop into an unmarked door... you're thrown into the 20's when you step into a dark space with flocked wallpaper, padded walls, chandeliers and ornate ceilings... and in speakeasy style, everyone is drinking cocktails out of teacups (with saucers or course) and beer in paper bags... Is it bad i found myself wishing i had my scotch in a Blaue Blume tea cup? See more pictures of the collection and from the designboom mart on the next page!

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Tags: drinks - icff - tea

On more packages to play with upon returning to LA... Here is the Sorapot unboxing that i've waited 3 years to do (i first read about it over on Cool Hunting in 2005)! Joey Roth was actually my first NOTCOT reader i ever met, and i'm ecstatic to finally see his masterpiece in my hands (and not on a computer screen!). So amidst all this u-haul unloading, unpacking and playing 3D tetris with boxes... here's a quick unboxing of this beautiful new teapot. So industrial, yet elegant... and i even have

... I have yet to brew my first sorapot of tea - more to come on that later... But for now - check out the freshly launched official Sorapot site! On the next page see the unboxing of it out in Topanga Canyon... a few sneaks peeks for you of the factory in the making... and a refresher diagram of the making of the Sorapot and how this is a testament to the power of design blogs to help small designers get out there!

TO PAGE 2 of "Sorapot Unboxing"! ----->

Tags: drinks - home - kitchen - tea - teapot