etsy pinings - warmed by shopping

Spring is so close I can almost taste it, but today it's still bone-chillingly cold in my lovely city (and the building manager is feeling stingy with the heat, since it looks kind of like spring outside). I'm procrastinating - browsing through Etsy looking for those hints of sweet, balmy warmer weather, and feeling the glow of virtual shopping.

Tomboy, meet ruffles. Pretty, pretty hat from piperandpaisley.


Ok, so this isn't strictly a spring thing, but prettytheory demonstrates a timeless sentiment, and I'm feeling the weight of her argument pretty strongly.

These earrings by stephaniesimek are so clever and graceful.

I love every last thing adventuresofjr makes, but as I'm sitting here shivering and rubbing my hands together, I'm most tempted by this cozy wrap.


When stringofblue closed her Etsy shop I was heartbroken, but I discovered this week that she's back as darvesh. This graceful chunk of turquoise is calling my name.

blissfulimages' shop name says it all. She takes joyous photos with an air of delicacy that's enchanting.

I love almapottery's tiny fairy houses. This one has an intriguing urban twist.


Cheery felted eggs by astashtoys. I feel an addiction coming on.

I yearn for delightworthyn's piecey fanciful hats.

Gorgeous bright brass bubble earrings by StudioRona.

NOW it's spring break.

I did it. I made it to my own deadline, and urban legend is a real live shop. And huge thanks to all of you who have stopped by already to say hi! That makes all the prep worthwhile. Now I get to relax and enjoy a week off from my office job, have fun updating both shops, and attend to such minor household tasks as taxes and painting. Or maybe I'll just curl up in the chair and read Greensleeves. Yeah, that sounds about right. Thanks for all the encouragement, people, you make this gig a lot of fun!

Etsy Buy Handmade urbanlegend

1 more day...

Fingers crossed that I'll actually be ready to push all those listing buttons tomorrow morning. It's been a long week, and I'm still not done, but I'm determined to make it. Thanks so much for all the lovely support and enthusiasm; here's one last sneak peek before my grand opening tomorrow morning.

2 more days...

sentimental journey

I had the honor of doing a lovely little project a short time ago. A wonderful customer contacted me to see if I would update some of her mother's costume jewelry for her. That's a designing favorite for me, so of course I said yes and she sent two pairs of earrings on a short trip to Chicago for redesign. These were the results. I particularly loved the aqua and gold glitter beads, and have been hunting for them ever since (sadly, with no luck). Maybe someday I'll come across another pair, but in the meantime, these have traveled back to their owner, who now wears these pretty mementos of her mother.

3 more days...

4 more days...

on delayed gratification

It's been fifteen years since a very dear friend introduced me to a wonderful book. Greensleeves by Eloise Jarvis McGraw is a beloved classic of children's literature, and if you Google it you'll find hundreds of people who have been moved and comforted and delighted by this charming story. You'll also find that most of those people are mystified as to why the book has never been reprinted, especially considering that McGraw was an established author of children's books, and many of her other titles are readily available, whether in print or out of print. I don't know the answer to that mystery, but I do know that for many years it's been difficult to find copies, and they're usually priced as rare books and well out of my range. My friend's copy was actually a photocopy in a plastic and paper binder, with a convoluted system of double-sided pages that kept me flipping and turning and mistaking and skipping pages and going back to figure out what I'd missed all the way through. It was worth every minute to enjoy this consummately satisfying story, and I've wanted my own copy ever since. Every time I did find one, it was at least $100 and I just couldn't afford it. My mother is a reknowned booksale scavenger, and she's been keeping an eye out for me for close to ten years now. We were talking last week and she mentioned that she still hasn't seen a copy in person, but she did happen to notice that several copies had suddenly appeared online at pretty reasonable prices. She didn't order one because they were library copies and listed as marked or in less than perfect condition, and she thought I might not want them. I didn't care, and I went right for the keyboard. I found that her source had sold out, but I had a renewed sense of hope and tried turning over a couple of other bookish rocks and finally, finally found a ex-libris copy and clicked through my purchase on a true reader's high. My long-awaited treasure arrived this week, just in time to give me a sense of spring and freshness in what has otherwise been a disheartening week. Thanks for the eagle eye shopping stamina, Mom!

It's been more than ten years since I saw my beloved friend, but she's coming to Chicago in two short months. I can't wait to reread this beautiful, hopeful book and to renew our old connection, originally forged over thousands of cups of diner coffee and in countless bookstores, movie theaters and corners of this lovely city. Katie Fae, thank you for introducing me to Greensleeves; I love you and I can't wait to see you.

5 more days...

oh boy, oh boy, oh danny

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody! May the road rise to meet you.

6 more days...

urban legend countdown: one week!

I know I'm a one-note song these days. I promise I'll have other things to say in a very short while, but at the moment I'm 100% preoccupied with getting ready for my new shop launch next Monday. So on that (one)note, here's another sneak peek at what I'm making. I'll be posting a new sneak peek every day this week leading up to the launch on Monday the 23rd. It's almost here!

more urban legend sneak peeks

I'm still tweaking the photographs, and two days of black skies and pouring rain over the weekend aren't helping. I'm not sure if these are the final versions or not, but I like them enough to use them for sneak peeks. Plainly, I'm in love with gigantic plastic earrings!

our PR has gone badly awry.

Oh, I hate to see this. Plainly, the marketing of Bitch: The Concept has slipped somewhere. Somewhere in wine country, someone is badly misinformed about the nature of bitch.

Now this is more like it; short and to the point - complete with a nice sharp stiletto on the i. Well done.

blog post: in which i resolve to be worthy.

I found this lovely piece of handmade vintage on the front page of Etsy, and I had to have it. I know there's a recession; I'm just doing my part for the economy. Anyway, that's my story. The fabulous AquaVelvet gave me a stunning compliment and told me I knew how to rock the vintage. I fear it's not really true. Amongst my inner circle, I'm well known as something of a frumpy dresser. I favor jeans, boots and long sweaters, and usually resemble a sort of perky longshoreman in disproportionately fancy earrings. When this package arrived, however, I realized I was going to have to step up my game. It's time to start really rocking the vintage. I'll do my best, AquaV, thanks! Check out AquaVelvet's Etsy shop for more exceptional vintage items, and you can rock too. (She also makes gorgeous jewelry, available at http://morphologie.us/).

are you a goop?

L went to the Newberry Library last week for a conference, and brought me back this wonderful postcard of the cover illustration of Gelett Burgess' marvelously nostalgic book Why be a Goop? I don't think you can get the original anymore, but I've provided a link to a combined version, available at powells.com. When I was a kid we had two Goop books, a yellow one that was the bad-mannered Goops (very dog-eared and beloved) and a blue one that was the well-mannered Goops (pristine and clean to this very day). http://www.thegoops.com/

the blogging, she suffers.

I know I'm way behind on blogging, and I have a number of things I want to do, but I just plain don't have time this week. So I have to be post-and-run girl and just add a couple more Urban Legend sneak peek pics - I apologize for the lameness. In my head, this is a much more interesting blog.