Was I Too Late?

What happened to Nashville's craft scene? Three years ago, I went to the first (and, it appears ONLY) Nashville craft show The Revolution of Craft. I recently uncovered my lovely S.W.A.G. bag and re-discovered several crafters and their wee wares (miniature buttons, bits of soap, tiny art-covered army men) and remembered the event fondly. I went to go hunt down the Nashville Craft Mafia to see about joining ... they seem to be on hiatus. I then went to CRAFT: A Creative Community. Also on hiatus. I hunted down Myspace pages ... links were either dead or struggling for breath with just a few craft items for sale on their Etsy shop pages (The NashVegas Etsy Street Team's last log in was last year!). This is very discouraging. I had followed the indie craft movement from nearly its beginning, as an avid fan and wistful, some-day participant. Well, I'm now participating, but I came to the party and the mob, mafia, uprising, apocalypse, bazaar, whatever-you-want-to-call-them has gone. It looks like I am two years too late.

What gives?

Book Binding Bizarre

I've been intrigued by other small business art/craft/creative people with the guts to do things nobody else had thought of doing ... or, at the very least, who could put their own spin on the things that already had been thought of.

Take bookbinding, for instance. Pretty standard stuff, right?

Uhh. Wrong.

Fabric Musings

Fabric. I am knee-deep (it feels like) in fabric. I inherited my stash from a multitude of sources. Some scraps were in the family for years. Others were from the ad agency I used to work at, and came home with me after a deep-cleaning of the prop room during renovations. Still others I picked up on my own, during adventures at thrift stores, flea markets, or antique shops. Most of the fabric is probably vintage, although I cannot claim that for all pieces, since I have no real timestamp on any pieces.


This gem is a favorite. Bright, cheerful green with white floral pattern! It came to me as part of a shirt-to-be. It was still in pieces, cut into sleeves and a bodice, and is probably vintage. Gorgeous. I used it about a year ago in a collage project ... it was the leaves to my trees and bushes. I hate to part with the remainder, but it will be up for sale soon in my Etsy shop.

Buttons! Whee!

I've been fast at work prepping for the launch of my new venture: Creative Salvage.

A Whole New World (Or: Unemployment, Day 3)

I'm sitting here typing this in my pajamas at noon. My dog is sitting at my feet, blissfully content to be inside the house at this time of day. I am updating my LinkedIn account, searching for jobs, chatting with friends, and looking for people to follow on Twitter.

I'm working on a new business that I started a day before I was laid off. Suddenly, I have a lot of time to do so.

And I'm thinking surviving on beans and rice and leftovers will be good for my weight loss goals!