The Deep End

I’m jumping in with both feet.

My four year old son is more independent every day and my nine-month old daughter {as of 3 hours from now} is napping for longer stretches, and I’ve decided its time to re-invest some time into my creative endeavors.

It is not to say that I’d abandoned them. There’s always some project inching its way to completion around here, but I feel ready to dive instead of wade into the swirling waters where motherhood, obligation and art converge.

Step one: Make over blog. Check.

I want to share the highs and lows of my adventures in creative motherhood, but, as in life, its hard for me to start when I don’t like the looks of the place. So the blog has a new look, thanks to a new background and header {from the Background Fairy, although I’ve taken a few liberties with the header} which I just can’t stop looking at. I just love text and lettering. I could write a love letter about my love of letters, but instead I’ll direct you to my etsy shop where that love is evident.

Which brings me to:

Step two: Restocking my virtual shelves. Semi-check.

I have some great items on their way to my shop, including lots more vintage sign letters in several sizes, styles and finishes, including a few from an old sign on the Atlantic City boardwalk. Then there are some tiny, ancient ceramic ballerinas that I think are ubiquitous enough that I won’t feel bad about altering them and “zsushing” ‘em up with tissue and paper and millinery flowers and maybe some antique buttons, and ohhhh, I can’t wait to start those. And, let’s see, I’ve got some gorgeous vintage linens, some daguerreotype cases, a couple of antique porcelain busts I want to give the Elizabeth treatment, a WWII ammo crate, if I can pry it out of my husband’s hands, some vintage doll parts for altered art, oversized antique copper stencils, oh and just much much more. Now I just have to display, photograph and list all my whatnots and whoosits so I can earn some money to...uhh...buy more whatnots and whoosits.

And all of this is now possible because I’ve completed...

Step three: Organizing my Art & Etsy closet. Check.

The creative clutter {i.e. mess} that had taken over both my dining room and kitchen tables and which was threatening to invade my kitchen island and every other horizontal surface in my house has been condensed and contained in one of my downstairs closets. It has gone from junk receptacle to object of beauty and organized chaos {which is, coincidentally, what the inside of my brain looks like}. So now, most of my vintage stuff awaiting purchase is tucked into the closet, along with supplies for etsy projects and all my shipping paraphernalia. I still have a disaster of an office full of art and craft supplies that I’m afraid to even touch, but the closet is a step toward making the artsy part of my life a little more accessible.

Next up: the to-do list. I’m giving myself two weeks to prepare for a twelve week workshop on “fitting creativity into your life” because I want to give my family the best of me, and I’m only at my best when I have time to develop and nurture my creative interests. And I’d like to invite you along for the ride.

A new day, a new adventure

Its a beautiful day. Cool, crisp and clear. I've had my english muffin with Nutella and I'm sipping french caramel coffee, black and wondering at a few moments of peace.

Baby girl is cooing in her swing, while the little boy drives cars on his road mat nearby and I find myself with a couple of minutes that I do not wish to fill with dishes or laundry. Ahhh the romance of it all. Who knew there would come a day when I'd rather where a t-shirt and yoga pants that smell like baby than a cocktail dress that smells like Dior? Well, regardless, that day is here, and I now find myself longing for a different type of beauty. Maybe that's because watching your little boy fall in love with his new baby sister, and watching that little baby fall asleep on your chest teach you what beauty really is. Or maybe I'm just becoming a homebody.

Either way, the beauty I seek is still art and music and finery -- just not the kind you enjoy with a martini in one hand and an amuse bouche in the other. I want the music that sets a backdrop for your day... classical, jazz, anything that makes the rough edges blur and your routing seem less - routine. The art and finery are the little glimpses of beauty in my own home, and the homes of the people I love, and the shops and fairs and blogs where I can admire and possibly purchase for my very own the loveliness other like-minded craftspeople have been inspired to create.

With all that in mind, I have a new venture, both creative and a tad entrepreneurial. On etsy, the site responsible for this decade's renaissance in craftsmanship, I have opened one shop, with another in the works. BettyHarry is my vintage and supply shop, filling up with found objects and objects d'art with a steampunk bent whenever possible. Here's a little taste:

Vintage Steampunk Watch Movements

& Vintage Numbered Brass Tags

Lamb&Rose should be up and running in the next few days if I can see my way through the must-do's at home. It is my real baby, where I will feature my own art and handpainted whatnots, with a vision towards whimsical fare that may be most at home in children's rooms and homes with a sense of childlike wonder, at least for now. Since it is the work of my own hands and mind, it is likely to change with my mood, but that's the mood I'm in right now.

So nice to address Nevertheless again. I hope to find more of these stolen moments as the winter creeps in.

And please check out BettyHarry!