NEW product NEW colorway!

Long ago, I created a blue jay block live at a neighborhood fundraiser. I’m bringing it back into my work, and it makes sense as certain ideas are really circling around as I’m reviewing what it means to be going into year 10 of business. The blue jay is such an interesting, beautiful, and amazing bird yet it often gets a bad rap for disrupting the typical backyard community and people unfairly judge it for all that it really offers and what they think it is. The blue jay is simply misunderstood and sometimes therefore ultimately feared or even disliked, but alas, it is an asset to have if you take the time to appreciate and understand. As you really start to research them you’ll find they are highly intelligent, highly adaptable, social, and family oriented. I’m a therefore a fan of the blue jay. As I’m typing this I’m suddenly remembering as a child I would put on my navy corduroy’s and navy zippie hoodie, pull the hood over my head and declare that I was a blue jay! I still wear a navy blue zip hoodie, and maybe I am still feeling like that blue jay from time to time…   And now to the swan. I’m wrapped up in the blue jay in my brain at the moment and I’ve talked briefly before about the swans significance so let’s cut to the chase here. There’s a brand NEW colorway in town and the organic swan tea towel is now available in Navy to go with the existing 16×16 designer fabric swan pillow, and of course back to the blue jay, also NOW available in shop the NEW 16×16 designer fabric pillow!
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BRAND NEW blue jay designer fabric pillow, and organic tea towel. And brand NEW navy swan tea towel colorway to go with the existing designer fabric swan pillow. Available in shop NOW!

 
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Color of the Month March 2016!

March! Yes! Getting close to Spring and green and gardens and plants, my fave! I got a nice dose of Spring while I was out in Seattle. I also got a nice dose of seasonal allergies there at the end of my trip which I was mindful to just embrace while I enjoying the daffodils, crocuses, gorgeous blooming camellias, and other amazing flowering plants and bushes that really popped. Plus, I find that having a dose of pollen from a trip pre at home allergy season helps in an immense way, so I should be all set this year! Anyway, ode to all things green with this color of the month. A bit of a dingier green mix, the kind that starts to surface from the grungy muck of post winter.
blog march vignette

Fave vintage: melmac cups, kitschy snake mug, toy cups, lamp salt and p’s, McCoy pot, Fire King bowls, Hollywood Extra cold cream jar, and MI Mackinac Bridge glasses, anchored on a pretty springy floral napkin.

blog march table setting

Fave Vintage: Bold tablecloth, daffodil tray, melmac, and pale stripe napkins.Thinking Spring over here! Just a few pieces this month make a stellar statement! And the tablecloth is a round one I tucked, the magic of styling and cropping 🙂

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Back from Break.

      I just took an unprecedented 2 weeks off and headed to the great Pacific NW. It was a great and much needed break. I enjoyed lots of old school friend time, exploring more neighborhoods, hitting some great spots I’ve been to before and lots of new places, live music, great food, some vintage digging of course, and just general chill time. I even assisted my friend in her textile studio and in installing custom bedding on a yacht which was pretty fun. I shared a few pics on instagram and the pic below is by far my fave from my trip, but I really tried to unhook from technology and be present which was pretty awesome. I’m feeling calm and relaxed and enjoying a much slower work pace. I’m all ready for Spring and my next adventure!  
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Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle. What a stunning view.

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Color of the Month February 2016

Jumping right into February! Slowly creeping closer to Spring, my favorite. Here’s some perky pink to help guide you through this drab month by adding a little extra bit of color. Wherever you are, I hope you’re getting more sunshine than we are here in MI, blah. I’m feeling a bit under the weather as I write this so…extra blah. Cabin fever is setting in and it’s waivering between 99.1 and 101.6 degrees. I think I’m on the mend, but seriously, I could use some real vitamin D from that thing we call THE SUN.
blog feb 2016 vignette

Fave vintage: salmony pink laundry sprinkler lady, fire king custard cups, raffiaware mugs (already sold), McCoy bowl-part of a set, Pyrex loaf pan, Miami salt and p’s, anchored by a pink crochet edged runner. Most of this and more, as usual, in the vintage shop, except my pink sprinkler lady, that weird collection is mine all mine 🙂

blog feb 2016 table setting

Fave vintage: gorgeous vintage tablecloth, I love tablecloths with either gray or this yellowy limey color that looks fresh with my walls. Pink melmac platter under another McCoy bowl from the mixing set, raffiaware tumblers, matching Fire King saucers (to the custard cups), gorgeous pink rose bowls, and oh so lovely pink squiggle napkins. I should have thrown in a pink artgoodies cupcake tea towel! Also, I want to mention, check the vintage shop if you see something you like, many times I’m setting a table for 2 but have pieces for 4 or six or more!

 
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NEW artgoodies BEE products!

beeprintcollegeNearly 20 years ago I made a bee print. It was significant in my early work, perhaps largely due to process. It wasn’t an etching, or engraving, or linocut. I made a wire sculpture and rolled it through the press in metalsmithing, hammered my copper plate flat and voila my bee print was born. I made several prints this way including “sad man” and “funny lady”. I guess I’ve always looked for ways to keep with traditional process but combine it with something else and go outside the lines trying to merge both 2 and 3 dimensional work. This time the bee, a linocut, makes an appearance again in a significant way. I’m still enjoying very process rich work and the poor bee is in a state of demise due to our over processed world. The natural world has and always will be a theme in my work, life, and live close to my heart. This new work reflects with a little more blatant seriousness my feelings on the subject matter. IMG_20160111_141436 (1)blog honeymix400wzp-bee - Copy bee towels    
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Valentine’s Buying Guide

January can feel a little bleak so let’s jet forward to the next holiday while I’m working on new designs (stay tuned!) In the meantime, here’s artgoodies Valentine’s buying guide.  If you’re looking for a way to give a sweet treat to anyone you care about, artgoodies can help, because everyone deserves a little love. Nab a sweetie pie towel set and SAVE or help someone celebrate a new engagement with a blingy ringy towel, tis the season. Whoever it is, remind someone you care, a friend, a neighbor, a loved one, be nice, that’s all. blog valentine mix
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Color of the Month January 2016!

Hello New Year! I was working on another project which slightly delayed my color of the month post but here it is in its sunshiney glory. I think warm sunny yellow seems like a bright way to start off the New Year! As usual I have an optimistic list of ideas, dreams, and things to do in 2016.
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Keeping it simple in the vignette this month. Fave vintage: 2 little planters, cute little horse one huh? melmac cups, straw raffia mugs, plastic pig bank, and flower linen. As a little reminder you can purchase most of the items in my color of the month posts in my vintage shop right here!

JAN 2016 TABLE SETTING - BLOG

Fave vintage: melmac as usual 3 different styles this time, Pyrex carafe, tray, McCoy bowl, straw weave tumblers, gorgeous metal tray with gold edge, cute plaid napkins, all grounded by a new to me vintage tablecloth I just thrifted. Yay for yellow!

JAN 2016 ROOM - BLOG

Sometimes when you take down your holiday decor, especially when it’s an entire wall display, your house feels bare. The poinsettias really help fill the void and I get to enjoy them a little longer. I just love how they blend in and complete the look in vintage bamboo style ceramic planters I already have. I adore how this room came together.  

   
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The Magical Pop Up Shop: a blog post.

Finally. Here’s a blog post for you. There was NO time to post after the shop happened. I rushed right home into holiday shipping and family obligations and this year there’s basically been no rest, just jumping right back into work. I suppose that’s alright, but it might be nice to experience what some call a “weekend”, ha. Maybe for New Year’s?? …Nah. Anyway, I had a pop up shop, INSIDE a giant Christmas tree outside of Chicago, and it even had it’s own musical light show that happened every 30 minutes. What an experience. I basically WAS inside roadside kitsch and made a beautiful little boutique in there. My bucket list has some strange things checked off…roadside kitsch style store, check. Once in a lifetime, done and done. My display fit better than I had even planned after working up my schematics. Afterall, I was building a store inside a stop sign shaped space smaller than a 10×10 booth. Felt pretty roomy in there given my design and I was really pleased with it, nice job myself. It was indeed MAGICAL! Here’s a link to a virtual tour inside, and here’s a link to the music light show outside the tree.
tree shop outside

Me outside my tree shop! How cute is this tree shop! It even has ornament shaped doors!

tree shop sign

I got my very own sign. Thanks to a dear friend for helping me design this. I’m learning but creating giant graphic files isn’t really my thing. I was in the last class to graduate college before learning/doing computer design was mandatory, the struggle is real.

tree shop inside night

Inside my shop at night! Everything fits so nicely and I love how the color makes the product pop!

tree shop outside line night

Outside the shop at night. I hung a clothesline from a couple of light posts and love how the product hangs against the lights. I also adore these vintage signs I bought a few years back, I had no idea how truly perfect they’d be someday!

tree shop pillow side

Pillows, cards, wrapping paper, and stockings on this side. Plus my checkout table and a place to sit.

tree shop apron towel side 2

This side of the shop featured zippered pouches, aprons, and tea towels. Plus I love how that vintage holiday tablecloth matched the walls perfectly, fit with my theme, and hid overstock! How fresh and crisp is this!

 
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Home for the Holidays Part 2

I’m a little delinquent on my post here. Because well, I wasn’t home for the holidays for a week, I was off doing my Magical Pop Up Shop! I’ll do another lengthier post soon on the tree shop. I came home from that and literally got out of the car and ran down the steps into the studio and starting shipping like crazy! Bing bang bam packages and product flying everywhere and out the door to all my awesome customers!  I was shipping through the 23rd, with a half a day escape to put my tree shop display in storage so I could park in my garage, and a lunch visit with a dear family friend on the 22nd. Then with a half a day to prep for family coming on the 24th and 25th and a project in between, well, my legs felt like noodles from exhaustion and there’s not much rest here still.  And here in the exhaustion, the rest of the holiday decor happened, so last minute, there was almost no real tree this year, and then there were 2 because I was so late they were half off, so why not. Enjoy the decor, and Happy New Year to you and yours! Stay safe if the weather outside is frightful. The Christmas eve and day walks were welcome and the dandelion sighting was odd, we knew it couldn’t last.We’re now in the middle of an ice storm here in MI, yep, winter has finally found us again.
plaid christmas day table setting 2015

Christmas Day table setting, well, almost, I had to add another row of tables and seating for the rest of the gang but I was almost there. Lucky for me my vintage closet provides a nice array of props when I do my color of the month settings, and at holiday and for special occcasions 🙂

dining room full view, tree table, wall

You may have noticed I moved the small aluminum tree and replaced it with a real tree in it’s usual place of honor, smells so good! A view from the kitchen into the dining and living room.

   
kitchen nook silver aqua

The kitchen nook. All is calm all is bright. Custom aqua artgoodies doily stockings, a vintage bottlebrush tree on the table with my Marcrest Stetson Swiss Chalet plates, pinecone shaped lights, and tinsel wreath with blue vintage bells and ball accents. I love the icy holiday magic here.

 
dining room window side

A rare look at the other side of the dining room. Switched the drapes out again with a pair that hung in my grandma’s dining room. A clock from my great grandmother, grandpa’s stereo, an array of gold holiday decor and globe atop a vintage George Nelson and Assoc tray, amazing vintage Peabody fibgerglass chair, vintage flokati rug accent, and handmade vintage deer trim pillow., oh and a mid century planter as well.

front porch closer look

Here’s a new space for my holiday decor. I got a skinny mini tree and some new blue, green, and white lights and thought, YES, a blue and green front porch vintage style holiday! The little tree has vintage blue and green ornaments with handmade bead snowflakes and a few new ones too. A vintage angel topper, and a little handmade vinyl vintage tree skirt complete the look. artgoodies recycled felt stockings in snowflake and elf hang above, snowflake pillows, and elf stuffies replace some of my usual pillows, and the awesome vintage hand painted reindeer sign fits perfectly on the wall! And you can see it from outside, so bonus, it greets guests with a happy holiday vibe!

living room tree window

Here’s where the little aluminum tree went, which worked out great since I could light up both little blow molds! The perfect size to be featured in the window, and I decided to keep that antique stand I had for sale, it worked perfectly for this tree!

vintage toolbox arrangement front door

And speaking of greeting guests. I just love this little vintage toolbox I thrifted a few years back. It’s really fun to change out seasonally. It’s amazing how much your little city yard can provide. Look at all the magic stuffed into this little box! 3 different style pine cedar branches, pine cones, berries, dried flower seed pods, some silvery sage. It’s so welcoming at the door and always fun to design! This year as I pulled my geraniums out I even had one with a bud, on Dec 23rd!

 
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Hello Chicagoland!

The Magical Pop Up Shop INSIDE the giant Christmas tree is now OPEN for business! Come see me at Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, IL NOWthrough Sunday! artgoodies is located near Macy’s across from West Elm. Join me for this truly unique shopping experience! Enjoy the tree’s music and light show and then step inside and shop my independent and handmade product line!         OldOrchardShop2OldOrchardShop1
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