Craft Studio Love!

I LOVE my new craft room. Time spent there is inspiring, relaxing, and fun! Happily messy. I have a center island workstation for painting, drawing, and other messy enjoyment. My sewing table looks out to my front yard and a long counter has space to spread out for jewelry making. What was missing was a comfortable place to sit and read my many books and magazines, crochet, talk on the phone, or give my dogs a place to keep me company. I hunted both online and in stores, new and vintage, thrifting for something to recover. My search ended this weekend with the perfect mid century modern sofa.

I found it online through Etsy seller Vintage Supply Co., never imagining how much it would cost to ship a sofa. No need, it was local!! I visited Moderna Muerte, a brand new store in Delray Beach that carries an amazing array of quality vintage furniture, accessories, clothing (the real deal vintage, not simply out of fashion used clothes). Fabulous merchandising (vintage shoes and purse artfully displayed on a domed pastry stand) makes this a great place to visit and get inspired.
I love the white vinyl, so perfect for my needs. Reminds me of the Design Star episode where some designers painted graffitti and patterns on white sofas. I'll leave mine simple - the pups are very happy the way it is, too.

Shameless Self Promotion

I am obsessed with these vintage plastic flower beads. I have a little box of them and I like to play with them and make color and design combinations.


I created these bracelets - one in shades of blue and the other in oranges and ambers (with a touch of hunter). I have a red one, too, but I can't part with it. These two are in my Etsy shop.

That Seventies Thing - Halloween Style!

My father emailed me this photo today. He has put all of his old photos on CDs so he can pull out random and entertaining pictures easily. He thinks I was around 7 years old when it was taken. Are you digging my costume? And the bag I used to trick or treat with?! Flower power!


My kids think this scene is hilarious. The low tech costume baffles them. Yes, boys, our costumes were cheap plastic masks, easily cracked, and secured around your head with nothing but a piece of elastic threaded through the sides. We peaked out of little eye holes and breathed through little nose and mouth holes. The body costume was a mere printed sack. They all came in colorful little boxes. I wish I still had that weird looking bunny costume in it's cardboard box - it would be worth something today.
(side note...wasn't my mother's car sweet? I wish I had that, too!)

Immature - and not out of the closet

While I won't divulge my age, I am apparently an immature adult. I have a thing for the collectible vinyl toys that I think are so cool, as well as cute and adorable Japanese characters. I make(and buy) stuffed creatures, wear Hello Kitty, and wrap packages with Cram Creme tape. But I won't admit it. I went to a great store today that was a mix of awesome vintage clothing and accessories, re-worked clothing, fantastic cards, paper, and gifts and tons of kitschy things. I found myself buying BlueQ totes and a Hello Kitty belt buckle and saying they are for gifts. I bought my son dozens of blind box collectibles at the Kidrobot store in NYC only to commandeer them for myself so he won't 'lose' them.



Walk into my home and it looks like any other nice home (not over the top but nice). It lacks my personality in the main areas. Go into my home office and you will start to see more. In between the craft and decorating books and my long time collection of McCoy pottery (been gathering them before they became popular and knocked off on Ebay) are a basket of Dunnys , a container of souvenir floaty pens and an Amigurumi panda. It's not until you get to my craft room that the stickers, buttons, stuffed owls, collaged boxes, Blythe, and the wide assortment of Japanese cute attack your senses.


The first craft book on the subject of stuffed, crocheted, or felt creatures was Plush-O-Rama by Linda Kopp. The books' subtitle says it all: "Curious Creatures for Immature Adults". That about sums me up. I'm afraid to come out to my peers about my love for cute and indie things. The women I am around on a daily basis just wouldn't understand (or would they?) Their homes barely look like they have children in them, let alone toys for grownups! There are many out there that 'get it'. Individualism, cool, cute, handmade, recycled - whatever. I think it is better than the mall. Maybe I am in the minority but I like what I like. Wish there were craft groups nearby, as there are in Austin, San Francisco, Brooklyn or Seattle. I, and others like me, are grateful for the terrific blogs, zines, and websites that keep us in touch with the things that I hold near and dear but still keep in the closet.

To sum it up best, a quote to me from a friend who works at the local Saks store...
On learning that I purchased a sewing machine, she blurted "you aren't actually going to make your own clothes, are you?"