Regretsy.com to the Rescue!

All good things eventually come to an end. Especially in cyber-land where things become old and past-it at an alarming rate. It has happened to the best of them...Ebay...Myspace...where there was once a cool fresh place to hang out or sell your stuff. Then the masses catch on. Bandwagon jumpers who want a bit of the 'cool' action. The big companies see $ signs, editing goes out the window (as does quality) and before you know it what was once a really good idea, becomes nothing more than a saturated, capitalized, boring mess.

You know they say if you give anyone a paintbrush they can be an artist. Some people actually believe this. Let's take Etsy for example. Now, I love Etsy. It is an absolute genius idea and it has enabled many artists and crafters to branch out and get exposure. When Etsy started it was selective about who opened shops within it. You could almost guarantee, 99.9% that the items for sale on Etsy were designed and made well. That is what I loved about it...the quality. Finally...proper art...well made crafts...by good makers!

Have you seen Etsy lately? What happened? Everyone and their great, great grandmother has heard of it...that's what. Editing went out the window and the floodgates were opened to the masses. Which means that every bandwagon hopper in the universe wants a piece of the Etsy pie. Everyone is an artist on Etsy! Everyone can now sell their first rate crap on Etsy. This is not good. It clutters up the site and makes it impossible for buyers (like me) to find the good stuff. You now have to really work hard to sift through page after page of shite and garbage. I hate the way things are listed now as well...using key words to maximize search results...rather than being creative and catchy. It's starting to remind me of early Ebay. I sure do hope they sort it out and don't become all corporate conglomerate on us.

Then...just as things were getting rather dull around here...along comes THIS site. The light at the end of the tunnel. Created by (incredibly quick witted) Helen Killer, it's the answer to the phoney, sickly sweet, pseudo-positive, convo me shite that Etsy spews out. Finally someone has created the perfect forum to showcase some of the worst stuff ever to be seen on Etsy. The best part...it's done with the most impeccable taste and humor and it's more addicting than Etsy was in the early days. You will laugh...you will cry...you will be amazed beyond words at what some people describe as art...and try to sell to us! Blood, vaginas, copyright infringements, dead things, bad poetry and spelling mistakes...all there for your enjoyment. That's where you will be finding me these days.

Enjoy!

xoxo

The Kitchen (Before)

Hi! Wayne and I are planning on redecorating our kitchen.
You see, as a hobby, Wayne has been restoring vintage kitchen cabinets for a couple of years now. He finds and rescues the most amazing stuff...breathing new life into it...bringing it up to date while still keeping all the original features. His cabinets have been selling like hotcakes lately and he now plans on creating a website. So, for the pics for the website, we are going to use our own kitchen...which means we need to 'nice' it up a bit.

This is one of Wayne's cabinets.

I think we are going to re-paint it for the 're-vamp'.

These amazing wall cabinets were rescued from a medical lab that was being demolished. They are from the late 1970s I think. The cool thing about them is that they are so deep and extremely sturdy. The best thing...they didn't cost a penny!

These floor cabinets were from the same medical lab but they were a mess! Painting them wasn't an option so I found some vintage 1960s sticky plastic paper and covered the fronts of them with it. Looks tacky...but adds a strong texture which (amazingly) works.

All this stuff is bootfair finds...

I love our kitchen. It has that mish mash look that can only be achieved by years of layering junk on top of junk. Everything has it's place and it's completely lived in. The amazing thing is that, aside from the fridge, nothing in this kitchen was purchased new. Almost everything you see in these pics were either dug out of a skip, found on the side of the road or purchased second hand for peanuts...(and I mean peanuts! If we can't buy something for under £10.00, we don't even bother!). I cringe if I have to buy something new and I only throw something out if it can't be repaired, revamped or reinvented. This kitchen is pure resourcefulness in action...I love this...which is why I will be sad to see some of it go for newer pieces.

I love these deep wall cabinets...I can fit so much into them!

This is a 1950s sink unit...found in a skip. The door doesn't work and it needs a new floor inside. The plan is to get rid of the door and put a nice curtain instead. This unit is earmarked for restoration...but we may replace it with a bigger 1950s sink unit...not sure yet.

The vintage cooker was a freebee from Wayne's mum. She was gonna throw it away. Sadly it doesn't work too well anymore. I think the thermostat is broken. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it yet.

I will post more pictures as we go along. Feedback is welcome! What do you think we should add or take away from the kitchen? Any suggestions?

xoxo

Blog Name Change

Hi everybody! Please note that in the title of my blog I have changed the (American) spelling of the word 'Honor' to the English spelling of 'Honour'. No reason...except that I think it looks better.

Hope you are all having a nice week.

xoxo

Things that...

...I am finding inspiring today.

...life

...childhood memories

...earth

...quiet

...love

...soft

...salty



xoxo

Vacation 2009

We are back from our vacation to Devon and Cornwall. There is nothing I can say in words that could even begin to describe how much I love Cornwall. The farther south you go, the better it gets. You live in London, day in and day out you get rudeness, impatience, hostility...people won't talk to each other...it's easy to forget that it's really not suppose to be like that. Then you go to Cornwall and everyone is so nice and everything seems so unspoiled...and that's when you realise that London really is another planet entirely. We went to a wedding in Tavistock, a punk festival in Plymouth, stopped in Truro, stayed four days in St. Ives and hung out down by Penzance and Marazion. The highlight of the visit for me was the small seaside town of Mousehole (pronounced Mow-zle...for you American folk). Hands-down the most beautiful place I have seen so far. I can see why that part of the world attracts artists. It was so inspiring to me. If I had the kind of money it takes to buy property there, I would buy myself a little cottage with a sea view and spend my days painting. It's a vision and dream that I keep and it has sent me to sleep with a warm feeling ever since. I have posted some of my favourite pics from the trip. If you want to see more...please go here.

xoxo

Gone Fishin'...

...well, not really fishing. In a few hours though, I will be leaving to go on vacation and won't be back for two weeks. We are doing one of those travel aroundy type vacations where we hop in the car and drive everywhere and visit loads of friends and family...gift giving along the way. We will also be attending a family wedding which gives me an excuse to wear my new fascinator. I am so looking forward to not having to work or cook or manage things...I won't even have to to drive.

This vacation is quite symbolic too. On September 5th Wayne and I will be celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary and Wayne's niece will be getting married on that same day which is so special. This holiday break also represents a huge life change for me. The Monday after I return I will be starting college again. I am doing a year long teaching qualification course so I can continue to teach pattern cutting at FE level. This means no fashion work for me for one whole year! No more freelance and no more clients...for a whole year. I mean, yes...I will be busy...but it will be study busy, essay writing busy and case study busy. I am really looking forward to this. I need a creative break. The past few years have been really tough on me creatively. I have been pushed and pulled between different interests...trying to do the fashion work whilst trying to do the art work whilst trying to do the millinery work...all the while trying to 'build' my portfolio and 'cultivate' my voice. To be honest...I have been so concerned with commercial work that I don't even know what my voice is anymore. I'm slowly going crazy and losing myself in the process. It's hard having many persuasions and even harder to juggle them all if they are your source of income. So, I'm giving myself a break. I'm going to do the academic thing for a year and let the creativity flow naturally...if at all.

Poor Old Bessie. As I machined the last little bits on her yesterday, I explained that I will still talk to her and lovingly dust her each week. And maybe we will get together from time to time to do some 'fun' sewing...no work. She is going to have a break too...she needs it...she is older than me and has spent her entire life in industrial production...she has worked very hard and she is tired too.


I made few crafty things for my trip...fun things...with no commercial gain in mind. I threw together this crochet wristlet for my mom....and I made this tote bag with reeeeeally long straps for me. I love the shape of tote bags but I have always wanted one that I could sling across my shoulders so I have a hands free sort of thing. It is made completely out of the fabric scraps from my studio floor. Calico is the the best fabric to work with...I love the colour...and the texture...and when you wash it and tumble dry it, it goes all crepe papery. I made a pocket for my phone, so for once in my life, I don't have to rifle through my bag (whilst cursing like a drunk sailor) looking for it while it rings and rings..meanwhile people looking at me giving me evil eye.

I also made some bunting. Yes, I know...gay! Totally trendy...very Etsy...everybody is doing it...blah blah. But I love garlands...any kind of garland. Flags, things hanging from things, frilly silly stuff...I like it. These here that I made (on the lovely Old Bessie) are gifts for the sweet little wee ones that we will be visiting along the way on our journey.

Awwww...last but not least...Mr. Jake. Don't worry about Jake...he is going on holiday too! He will be staying with friends who I'm sure will spoil him rotten. Boy, I'm gonna miss him though.

Bye everybody...see you in a couple weeks...with holiday snaps!

xoxo

A Thought For Today...

This photo was taken by my friend Jijo Reed...it's from a billboard in Los Angeles. Short and to the point...I think it's a really good statement.

xoxo