Love and Miami

I had such a nice valentine's day! My husband intended on surprising me with an overnight getaway in Miami, but he told me a few weeks in advance to arrange babysitters and kids' activities (C'mon, no guy is that organized. We spent Saturday afternoon in the design district of Miami, checking out the many furniture showrooms and art galleries. After salmon burgers at Soyka, we headed downtown to Brickell Key and checked into the Mandarin Oriental hotel, which is truly lovely. Miami was very crowded due to the abundance of events and activities in the area and the numerous families escaping the Northeastern chill during their February school vacation. Coconut Grove Art Show, Julio Inglesias Concert, and a Flamenco Festival created traffic but we made it to a wonderful Italian dinner on the water.

After a leisurely brunch at the hotel overlooking the water we made our way to South Beach and Lincoln Road for a day of shopping, eating, and best of all, people watching. So many cultures converge in Miami that it is a festival in itself just to be there. We shopped the annual Kidrobot sale and had some Cuban coffee on Collins Ave. The weather was spectacular and we watched throngs of people walk blocks towards their goal of golden sand. Lincoln Road is the most fun place to take a stroll at any time. Outside cafes, independent jewelry vendors, and an endless cast of characters fill the pedestrian-only blocks. It had been a while since I had last visited and was before I began to focus on my current obsession of whimsical and mid century furniture and objects. I was delighted to find a Designs Within Reach store tucked off the mall. While I have constantly perused the online catalog, I had never sat in the many chairs that I ogled at and bookmarked. We got to try out the many Eames and Saarinen pieces. If I can ever find one I can afford, I would flip for Eames Le Chaise for my personal space at home. This chandelier, which blends contemporary with traditional crystal would look perfect in my mixed-look dining room!

My other retail highlight was finally visiting the Jonathan Adler store. Everyone who knows me says this designer's wares are 'right up my alley'. Look at this desk! It just might be 'the one'.

New lacquered bath accessories at terrific prices and yummy colors like lime are due in any time. I can't wait to go back in the Spring after my move!
We treated ourselves to a walk through Books & Books and a gelato before heading home. We had a wonderful, romantic, well-needed weekend alone. We had fun, like an old fashioned date!


When I returned I was inspired to finish one of my collaged journal pages that I had been working on. I have been so behind on working on my crafty things, but I am refreshed and recharged. At least for a day.

Crafty Book Finds in Boston

I just returned from another vacation in Boston, which is always a delight unless it is between November and April. Being a city full of young people due to the abundance of fabulous colleges and universities, it has lots of crafty and green offerings. Due to my schedule that centered around visiting my son at camp, I was unable to do what I REALLY wanted to do, and that was visit the South End Open Market, which has everything from crafts to food every Sunday. There was also a green/crafty festival in Somerville - missed that, too.

Having finished the novel that I was reading on the plane, I tried to convince my 9 year old to walk over to Borders to pick up something for me to read. Tired after a day of walking the New England Aquarium, he countered that it was not necessary for me to go. In desperation to avoid watching cartoons later that evening, we stopped into the Paper Source store next to the hotel with fingers crossed that they had something crafty for me to read. I left with the most amazing zine by artist Teesha Moore called Art & Life. Her journaling and collage work is vibrant and inspiring.
This particular issue (#10) had her trip to Tokyo journalled. It was so much fun to read and look at. I went back for the only other issue they had (#7) and just ordered two more from her website.

Saturday we spent walking much of the city, from Newbury and Charles streets to Fanueil Hall and the Freedom Trail (No, our youngster wasn't with us. His little feet wouldn't have made it that far in the heat. Neither did mine, from the looks of the bandaids on my feet.) We stopped into a Boston favorite, Newbury Comics. I am not a comics reader/collector per se, however they have records, cds and dvds, and a very large collection of collectibles, including the designer vinyl and Japanese ones that I like. I found two great books as well. First, I was nostalgic to pick up Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip.
I used to read the Moomin books when I was in grade school! My memory tells me that I loved them, and the cover graphics on this hardcover is great!

The second hardcover book that I encountered has me so very excited. It is called What It Is by Lynda Barry. The subtext on the cover says "Do you wish you could write?" Every single page in this book has hand drawn copy and illustrations and thought provoking questions, such as "What is a reflection?" "What is a secret? Where is it kept?" and so on. I paid full price and see I can get it for less on line, but it was fun to read and discover on vacation. Frankly, the books and some paper at Paper Source was all the shopping I did for myself this vacation.

I was, however, inspired to start collaging again and have to find some of the artist crayons that Teesha Moore uses in her collages and journaling. Besides this talented artist, I can thank my momentarily whining child for steering me into the store that had the zine!

New Etsy Store!

I am officially open for business on Etsy under my new store name, Ruby Underground!. Not only that, but I actually was able to create my own banner! Ok, so it is not super fabulous - but I did it myself! I have never been able to find the time and patience to learn Photoshop yet, but I discovered that Photobucket has some new editing tools that allowed me to crop and add copy. It took me a while to figure out how and where to save it so that I could upload it. It worked. I am proud. I have only listed a few things so far.

Please come and visit me.

Art on Etsy

I am a bit obsessed with Etsy (as are most people after they discover it!) They have a new feature called 'pounce' that lets you see what was recently bought and what else is available from that seller. I also like scrolling through the Time Machine 2 that lets you see the most recently listed items.

I have found some great things on Etsy that I have shared in the past. There is especially some great artwork out there. I recently added Mt. Joy School to my list of favorites. Their mixed media compositions are done with such vibrant colors and subject matter. May have to add to my artwork collection!

Holidaze

I need these.
But enough about me.

My dining room looks like a paper and ribbon blizzard. I have successfully shopped for and wrapped all of the gifts for the teachers, coaches, instructors, etc.. My kids will tote them off to school tomorrow (how, I don't know). That should clear off a large portion of the table. I finished the handmade gifts to my friends (the pendants came out nice - check out the last post.) The last minute cookies and secret santa gifts were handled calmly. No more homework for a few weeks. That signals vacation - hurray!

Good thing, since there was a double murder in the parking lot of our local giant mall. (cue the SNL Debbie Downer wah, wah). Freakin' creepy. Nice way to spoil the holidays. My husband told me I can't go to the mall by myself or with the kiddies alone for a while. Thank heavens for online shopping and my craft room!

Yuck - I went to the mall

I braved the crowds and found time to put off the inevitable at this time of year. Yes, I wish I could have pledged to buy handmade but I need to be realistic. I am in South Florida, mecca of "shiny and new". Some friends are getting handmade (by myself and others), but others are getting store bought/mail ordered.

I left myself less time to shop, arriving later than I expected, so I have to go again.

Every time my son needs new sneakers are asks for the exact same ones that he wore out/out grew, they are discontinued and I now have to take him shopping to try on sneakers. eek.

Anthropologie opened up at our local mall last month. I do like the store but I get the feeling that it is so mass produced masquerading as indie/handmade. Example: Flower necklaces made out of the cute vintage plastic flowers (are theirs vintage?) like the ones I use for my bracelets. Only they had a rack with 15 identical necklaces. hmmm. In their case of more unique jewelry they had a few bracelets like the ones I have using vintage findings and pieces of jewelry mixed with new. Lots of people create similar things. But for sale at $298.00?!?! I did pick up a hostess gift for a neighbor.

I still need a birthday gift for my step-father-in-law who is turning 80.

I also need to add some photos to my posts. How about this:

via cute overload. I love this site. I have it sent to my phone so I can amuse myself with cutie photos in carpool line.

Sunshine and Holiday Boutiques

I hate the pressure of holiday shopping. There are some that I can make great gifts for (my friend and I are hard at work on three textured, silver cuff bracelets for our gal pals). Teachers, neighbors and other small gifts are on the list. Toys need to be sent to the niece and cousins. Thank heavens for online shopping. I just need to sit down and do it.

I was forced to attend a bunch of holiday boutiques in the last few weeks. For heavens sake, they all had over lapping vendors. They each had at least half a dozen trying to get me to order personalized notepads from the same catalog the rep! And the most pathetic jewelry ever. (copies of designer jewelry and handbags make me want to vomit).

It is over 80 degrees and sunny here. Two and a half hours on the soccer field and watching my kids swim today reinforced my tan arms. I heard it snowed a few inched in New Jersey. Happy shopping!

Great Gallery and Store in South Florida

If you live in South Florida or are one of the many inhabitants of cold weather locales and migrate south to defrost and get sun during the winter, you must visit Tates Comics in Lauderhill
. I finally ventured down to the store, which is just west of Fort Lauderdale, hoping to pick up a few little holiday gifts for my cool little guy. I didn't expect the sheer awesomeness of the store! As the name implies, there is a vast amount of comics (which I know nothing about) and everything related to comics. It had every action figure related to any comic. Manga. Amazing books (I love cool books!) Collectible vinyl and blind box figures. Funky plush. And a large selection of Japanese snacks (the have snack tasting events - how cool is that?!) And videos. The owners are so friendly and knowledgeable - I asked to see if they had an obscure action figure that my son wanted and they did. And when I talked to him a little bit about my guy and his interests he steered me to a new Godzilla DVD that will be a big hit at the holidays!

Upstairs is the Bear and Bird gallery. They have art show and carry unique gift items and artist-made jewelry. There happened to be a show going on called Small Stuff - small scale artwork from both local and national artists that were available for purchase and affordable.

I finished my holiday shopping for my son at Tates and was able to find some terrific gifts for others, too. Did I mention the Tara McPherson Dunny that I bought for myself for my living room mantle?

Crafty Mommy Shops L.A.

For the first few days in Los Angeles, while exploring all of the different fabulous areas like Melrose, Santa Monica, Malibu, and Beverly Hills, my husband kept asking me why I wasn't buying anything. I let him know that I like to buy things that I can't find at home and that nobody else will have. And certainly not emblazoned with the store name across the chest or sneaker. I told him to wait until Sunday and he'll stop asking. He went to the Automobile show, I went to the Felt Club Holiday XL craft show. I want to share some of my favorite finds and terrific people I met along the way.

I was first on a quest for things to bring home to my kids. For one son, that meant something stuffed. I was excited to meet Narumi Ogawa, author of the Mr. Funky Super Crochet Wonderful book. The very first amigurumi I crocheted was Sebastian from her book.

I promised her I would post his photo for her! I purchased an owl for myself along with this stuffed donut from My Paper Crane.


A bear came home from Hotdog N' Bun - each bear seemed to have a unique personality so I had to choose carefully. I always seem to go with the chubby ones. Must have something to do with all of the cupcakes I ate!


My son's favorite item from the entire trip was the slug monkey from Planet Tokki.

(This photo is from their adorable gallery - I haven't been able to take ours away from my kid long enough to photograph him. It snuck to school with him each day in his backpack!)
Each creature has a story told on a little booklet that came with him. If it is a little odd, my son loves it. This one was a big hit!

L.A. Goodness!

I am back from L.A. and had the best time!!! We certainly packed a lot into 5 days. I had not been to Southern Cal. in many years so it was basically all new to me. We had fabulous food, did some shopping, poked around the beach communities like true tourists, took in some art, and did some star gazing (of the famous kind - Paris and her sister, Robert Redford, Melanie Griffith and more!).

We dined everywhere from Wolfgang Pucks restaurants and the famous Ivy to great little sushi restaurants and artisan cupcake shoppes. I need a good diet now.

My husband was surprised that I wasn't getting much shopping done - after all, it is L.A. I tried to explain that I would never buy what I can get at home or what everyone else would wear. He dropped me off at the Felt Club Holiday XL craft show (and he went to the L.A. Auto show, where I wouldn't have the patience to go.) When he came to pick me up a couple of hours later I was laden with bags! Stuff to bring back for the kids, my friends, holiday gifts. Oh, and me!! I'll share my finds at a later post. I have too jet lag and am too tired to sleep, if that makes sense. I am not focused enough to upload photos and give proper credit to the many crafters and artisans that I met.

Let me say that I do think that the people I met in Los Angeles are the friendliest! The guys and gals in the shops and restaurants (and next sitting next to us in restaurants)_ we so nice! We got the best tips on things to do and places to go from them. So thanks to everyone I encountered in L.A. - you are fabulous!

Stitch Rock Rocked!

The first indie craft show was held in my area yesterday and it was so much fun! Held in a real vintage former school gymnasium, the event was sold out at 40 vendors. It received some good press and when I arrived about an hour and a half after the doors opened it was pretty crowded. Attendees seemed to be a mix of the cool, hip young adults that are familiar with the indie scene (that included the friend that I invited along) along with folks that wanted to check out new and different craft show. It was overwhelming to see all of the creative offerings from the artists and crafters at their booths. Lots of fun jewelry, vintage and created-from-vintage clothing, t-shirts, soaps and cosmetics, vegan doggie treats, collaged tables, artwork, handbags and more! And very popular cupcakes. I got to meet a fellow Etsyfest member (many of the vendors had etsy stores)and I discovered there was not one but two awesome stores in the Fort Lauderdale area that sell the funky things I like to collect. I will be visiting the Pink Ghost and Tates very soon. Tates has a boutique and gallery upstairs called Bear and Bird. They have art shows regularly. I picked up some of the new little Munny's that were at their booth. I realized when I left that I was so overwhelmed with the interesting assortment (and my ever popular thoughts that "I can make that") that I didn't buy that much.

My friend and I each bought a tshirt from Owl Movement. They print artist tees and they are awesome. We had a hard time choosing. Given the month we are in, I chose a kinda cute monster tee. I also visited the Pink Ghost booth and picked up a cute pink plushie (I think it came from Australia. I can't remember. The plushie just wanted to come home with me.) I picked my son up a little ugly doll on a clip for his backpack. My friend picked up this little hat reminiscent of a ladies hat from the 1940's. I'll have to sift through the cards I picked up to see where she got it. When the weather cools a bit she will look totally hip when she pairs it with a black blazer out on the town. She can pull this off (I don't think I can.) I might have to step up my jewelry and stuffie production a bit and get a booth next year. My friend really wants me too as well. She wants to be part of the scene. Who can blame her. Creativity was in the air (as was the smell of cupcakes) and everyone was so nice!

Gift Shopping Assistance Needed!

If you are reading this then perhaps you have better ideas for gifts than I do. I can always shop for myself and am good about picking up things all year long for the Christmas gifts for friends who collect things. When on a deadline, however, I get stuck. I was relegated to shopping for a group gift for a girlfriend. I don't have enough time to shop online for her so the cool indie things were out. She collects so I went to the local antique mall and had no luck (but got some stuff for me - see below). I have to go back out later today. Wish me luck.

I do, however, have until December 1st to find his and her 40th birthday gifts for friends. They are having an 80th birthday costume party (forty together - how cute is that). Both artists. Any suggestions?

When I was at the antique mall I found a good mix of buttons, some vintage necklaces that I can deconstruct for my jewelry, a vintage table cloth, and another tin for storage (can't have too many).

Cool Finds

I love these pop art bunny cookie jars from Velocity

I think I have to have them.