Creatures for sale!

I've lived in my suburban neighborhood for close to, god, 4 years now? I used to have no urge to explore the center of town or check out any of the stores there mostly because I missed the city. So it stands to reason why in all this time I've never been inside Hobbs. Hobbs is a coffee/cafe type of place. Aside from being freaking adorable inside it had a shelf of locally made items. This was my chance. I talked to the very excitable man behind the counter named Salvatore and a week later I was lugging a suit case filled with three of my plush creatures to Hobbs to be sold. Woo!

The awesome sign that I wish I could take credit for made by Salvatore. 

YAY! 

Salvatore working behind the counter.

So if you're just dying for one of these cuties they're on sale at Hobbs Cafe in Swarthmore next to the train station. While you're there you can get some coffee, eat a sandwich, ya' know chill out.  You can also buy what looks to be home made hot sauce and jams there as well, I mean, if you're into that type of thing.

How Kafkaesque

My very good friend Becka Cohen came over last week. She too, is a crafter as well as an artist. Along with a lot of other things, she makes rugs and seat covers by wrapping yarn over plastic bags, creating a spiral effect. Here's one she gave to me a awhile back. MARVEL AT IT.

Keeps your buns happy and comfy.

So in the spirit of giving I made her a little present. Like most things, I started this  awhile ago and stopped after pricking my fingers one too many times. Once she was over, though,  I figured might as well finish it for her.

One of the things me and my buddy have in common is that we both like terribly tragic books. In high school we were all about Franz Kafka's the Metamorphosis. We also we really into sitting in a taco bell for hours with friends and trying to win a free taco by dropping coins into a water jug. Memories.

Any way this is what I made for her:

If you're not familiar with the book, the line above the bug is the first line from the Metamorphosis. Also if you don't recognize the line you should read the book and start getting into some existential shit. Impress your friends with your new morose outlook on life! Any way what's great about having creative friends is that you get to have some of what they make so hopefully me and Ms. Beckalaroo will continue trading cool stuff back and forth. HINT HINT BECK. 

Setting Up Shop

As you may or may not know, besides constantly crafting and writing about it, I run a small vintage shop on Etsy. The shop is called Theda Vintage after the 1930s sex symbol Theda Bara. Having the shop puts some extra money in my wallet while allowing me to compulsively buy beautiful stuff despite their size. Win-win.

I've had the store for over a year now and all the stock is starting to take up space in places all over my house, one of them being my mother's extra closet.  Maybe that's why she was inspired to move it all to our small spare room. It's like having my own little store inside my house.  We rearranged what little furniture was in there and hung up some pieces and voila! The cutest room in our house and there is still so much stuff left to put in there. Here are some pictures of  how it looks. 

Setting up this cute even though no but us is going to see it. 

Corner de los shoes. 

This is a vintage table cloth we hung on the window. 

I love going into the room and pretending that it's really my store. I used to the same thing as a kid but with a big cardboard box and let you tell me, this time around it's much more satisfying. If there was anything you saw that you think you'd like feel free to check out the shop. 

Hot Glued

This post might as well be known as my ode to the hot glue gun, as it was the main tool I used in this project.     I also got to use a hammer and nails which I always like because hammering things together is fun and makes me feel like whatever I'm making is a little more sturdy, but mostly I like hammering things.

I picked up a cigar box at a tobacco store recently and was immediately excited to turn it into a jewelry bow and re-decorate it. The exciting life I lead. Cigar boxes come in all shapes and sizes, some of which already have cool designs. The one I picked up wasn't too impressive so I covered the top with some gold fabric I had left over and stuffed it to make it have a padded top.

Yes that's me in the arms of Malcolm McDowell. 

So fluffy you could sleep on it.

On the bottom of the box.

I own a lot of strange pins. 

I ironed down the edges of the fabric to act as a hem and then after hot gluing that down I hot glued a trim around the edge so that it looked more finished. I nailed down the edged and tacked down the center of the top to make it look like a pillow. Then I hot glued the panel of fabric inside. After all that I only burnt myself one time!

Bug Bites

Ah summer, a time of hot summer days and cool summer nights, both filled with bugs. I've always been one of those people who attract bugs like a magnet. One night out for me means a million little bug bites for my legs. So in keeping with summer, crafting and complaining. I thought I'd post a project I did awhile ago using copper wire and beads. Sadly, the majority of these were either sold or given away, but here are two that I was able to hold onto.

Little beetle attached to a hair comb

my large beetle pin

Like most of the things I make I started and then stopped abruptly. I went through one of my periods of furious work, twisting wire and pricking my finger (it seems even these bugs bite me). When I had made around 20, I stopped and haven't made a wire bug since. At least I have these two as a reminder of some of strange projects I get involved with.