i art a day.

If you haven’t noticed recently, there’s still a couple of changes going down over here (if not – stop on by and take a look!), and today marked the beginning of the newest change to date. Today I finallygot the new Etsy shop and it’s partner business blog up and running - Library of Lost Things. Check them out at:

http://libraryoflostthings.etsy.com (Etsy Shop with new items to be added DAILY!)
http://libraryoflostthings.squarespace.com (The Blog!)

Recently, when I decided to make a stronger effort to update the shop with new items & ideas I wanted to give the project it’s own space. I started the i art a day blog as a place for my personal projects and experiences, which obviously includes building an online shop, but wasn’t exclusively intended for it. So from now on this lovely blog will be just that - my personal creative adventure blog, with a link or two over to the shop stuff when I’m really excited about something I’ve been working on for that. The i art a day Etsy Shop will also be phased out by the end of the month to make way for the new shop! It also couldn’t hurt to keep the shop front professional looking and my personal exploits a little more casual. To kick things off, the Secret Book Box was posted today and the new blog enabled for the public’s viewing pleasure! Yippie!

a photographic cooking adventure.

It’s been years since I’ve been out of the States and I’ve been having some serious travel cravings. It’s times like this were I look back at all of the photos and mementos that I’ve picked up while travelling and it usually just makes the wanderlust worse. These days I’ve been looking at some of the handmade things I picked up when I was studying in Italy for inspiration.

In Venice I meandered into mask shops where the walls were lined with hand molded and painted masks of every imaginable style, color, and purpose. No wonder why Carnivale is still such a huge celebration there every year. I walked out of the Ca’Macana shop with the beautiful green & gold eye mask above and a sinister blood red long nosed mask as it’s counterpart. Each of the mask makers pride themselves on their traditional craft and sticking to the classic techniques, and the care is so apparent with each mask.

All over Italy the art of paper making and thus bookmaking is still practiced, and is one of the major influences on my desire to make my own sketchbooks today. The day I walked into the Cartoleria Pantheon in Rome I fell in love with the leather handmade sketchbooks and photo albums and fountain tip pens and stage set dioramas and classic journals with Florentine patterned paper covers. Looking back I’m stunned that I only walked out with two sketchbooks, one for myself and one for a friend. To this day (I bought the book four years ago) I haven’t used the sketchbook because I cherish it so much. Luckily they ship anywhere around the world, so I’m working on using my current sketchbook up and then heading over to the beautiful blank pages of a sketchbook that’s waited a long time and travelled quite a ways to be used and loved.

Have any cool handmade souvenirs from your travels? I’d love to see them!

(top-most photo of the Felties booth by Sqrl&BeeStudio – Melissa Frueh)

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the semi-annual Philadelphia Buyer’s Market as a member of the press for the Handmade Philly blogging community, and what a show! Many of the artisans that I spoke to who had done the show previously remarked that it was a small show, but my mind was blown as it took me 3 hours to walk from one side of the convention hall to the other looking at all of the work.

The Buyer’s Market is a private show, usually only open to those who wish to sell their handmade goods wholesale to industry professionals. It’s not like an art/craft show in that buyers are there to look at and order work in bulk.  The investment on the part of artists exhibiting their work is high (usually a booth space costs between $1,500 – $3,500 a show), with the potential for a big return if their work manages to charm a couple of wholesale buyers. The work ranges from jewelry, wood, mixed media, paper goods, fashion, beauty, ceramics, glass, sculpture, fine art, to housewares.

With over 1,500 artists displaying their work, there’s no way I could fairly summarize everything I looked at and loved. So, instead I’ll be highlighting about a dozen sellers that really caught my eye over a 3 part blogging adventure! Let’s get started!

1. Homemade Circus by Tammy Smith

This whimsical little booth delighted me to no end with circus themed wire lamps, wall hangings with attached brooches, standing sculptures and big top flare. “On an abandoned pier in Brighton, England I found my inspiration. The carnival on the pier had burned to the ground. Only the steel frame existed and hundreds of birds had made it their home…this became the basis for a lot of my work,” wrote Tammy Smith on her website. A little sweet, a little dark and completely delightful. For your buying pleasure more Homemade Circus is also on Etsy at homemadecircus.etsy.com.

2. Dovetail by Margaret & Josh Smith

Simple and elegant ceramics with charming hand drawn designs. Each piece is handmade with several illustrations including bicycles, alphabets, chairs, neighborhoods, ocean life, and poppies. Way cooler than white Ikea plates. Pick up some of your own at the Dovetail Etsy shop: dovetail.etsy.com.

3. Revolutionary Designs, Inc.by Rick & Donna Chrisman

These baskets are so finely made that it’s stunning how consistant the craftsmanship is for handmade baskets and boxes. Working in Arizona, the Chrismans base much of their work on Shaker crafts and designs. Not only are they exceptional baskets, but the wood and oils smell so great!

4. Christine Originals

These shadowbox dioramas remind me of travels and beloved classic movies, with scenes set in Paris, New York, Florence, and Venice among others. There are also color dioramas of nursey rhymes and fairy tales, as well as fantastic still lives (some even light up!). Shown just a tad smaller than actual size – amazing, right?!

Part 2 of the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market review on Friday!

One of the perks of this virtual summer break of mine is the flexibility to pack up and head to the beach on a Monday without the guilt of calling out of work and lying to my boss about a scratchy throat. Last summer I spent a couple of days in Ocean City, Marylandwith several friends, and this week I headed down to OC, New Jersey for a day of warm summer sunshine. Both have a boardwalk, carnival, packed beaches, and tempting treats, but plenty of uniqueness as well.

Around noon the boyf and I packed into the car and drove the hour and a half down to “the shore” (for those outside of the shore area – it’s a vague term referring to any number of beaches primarily along the New Jersey, Delaware, and some Maryland coastlines) to meet up with a friend at his family’s beach condo. Luckily, since it wasn’t a Friday evening or Saturday morning, the drive was relatively painless. After parking and picking up a new $10 pair of flip flops we were out on the beach, which was extremely crowded but absolutely comfortable. The water, chilly at first warmed up and felt great to float around in. For lunch we munched on boardwalk hot dogs and the largest funnel cake overflowing with chocolate chips. I brought a chair and book intending to pass the time submerged in the world of Julie Powell’s French cooking adventure, but ended up laying on a beach towel drifting in and out of a nap while the warm sun wrapped around me like a blanket and the cool breeze comforted my skin.

After what could have been hours or seconds we packed up and spent some quality time at the wizards & dragons putt-putt course, playing an epic round of mini golf on a cleverly designed course and listening to highlights of the Lord of the Ringssoundtracks. There were families and gaggles of shore girls pedalling around on beach cruisers looking so sweet and carefree that I was almost ready to trade in my road bike for the curved lines of an off-white Schwinn with a front basket full of flowers and sunscreen and vintage brown leather seat.

To top it all off Matt whipped up some banana schnapps/Irish cream/vanilla milkshakes that tasted like banana pudding, followed by pizza and watching the moon come up. Is there really any better way to spend a Monday in the summertime?

I’ve been pretty terrible at blogging recently, and not for lack of material. During my month away from stringing words together I’ve been working on redefining so many aspects of my life, some by choice and some by necessity.

Four months ago I was an architect, or rather my job was architecture. It’s not who I was, but what I did. I did it well, and it treated me well. It wasn’t everything I was hoping it would be in the end, but circumstances were hard for everyone. When work slows down it’s never what someone was hoping for.

Three months ago I started working on my artwork again. I started looking for some kind of job that would teach me something new, something more than just what I do. I also started looking for a new place to live, because being unemployed doesn’t lend itself to living in one of the swankier neighborhoods in the city. I seriously considered graduate school, but put that idea aside after a quick time x cost = broke for the rest of my life calculation brought me back down to earth.

Two months ago I landed an unpaid part-time gallery assistant internship at a gallery here in Philadelphia (which has been an eye opening experience in a very short period of time), and looked for part time gigs painting sets, whipping up drawings, and taking photos.

Last month I paddled into completely uncharted waters, and moved into a townhouse with the boyf. Sure, the question of whether I was ready for this sort of thing or not floated through my brain, but the answer has consistently and excitedly been YES. Moving is always a huge pain (I swore I’d never do it again after moving into my last apartment), but every time I turn the heart-shaped lock to our new place I feel like I’m at home. Not only do I have a new “roommate” but the new place comes with the added perk of a studio space! The ideas have been bubbling up almost constantly and my creative mess is confined to a specific room.

At this point I’m still on the look-out for a full-time job with “security” and the typical 8-5 framework, perhaps even in architecture. At the same time, I’m not insistent on looking at the future from only that perspective. There’s a lot to consider, and I’d like to think I’ve started the search for the things that I truly want to do day in and day out. For now, that search has started right here at home.