Ginny's Small Studio

Arrivals and Departures at Small Studio

The Snowflakes for Sandy Hook have departed and were mailed to the White House at the beginning of the week.

The snowflakes looked so pretty all nestled in tissue in the box. I felt so important sending a box to the President. John took the package to the PO and when he returned I eagerly asked him if the postal clerk made any remarks. No, the postal clerk said nothing. I hope the president sees the snowflakes. Even if he does not, the good feelings of the participants was a great thing. We all felt like we were making something happen. Thanks again to all who created the snowflakes.

We have had some new arrivals this week at the store.

Valentine goodies.

We received some new Coffee Break stencils and kits.

Also among our recent arrivals are apothecary jars with interesting old labels.

And we received these very cool vintage style metal "camera" clocks.

Stop by and have a browse. We have a handful of spaces available for our Journal Play morning on the 19th and it is not too late to sign up for the Zentangle classes on the 26th. Call the store 440-808-8599 or stop by

Small Studio

26113 Detroit Road

Westlake OH 44145

Annual Fam Jam

Once again we were lucky enough to be invited to the Pritchard's annual "Fam Jam". The Pritchards are a very musical family who just love making joyful noise together along with friends. Gayle Pritchard who is an awesome artist is also a fabulous hostess. We were greeted as we arrived by a long line of candles flickering in the smow.

There was also a table laden with delicious holiday nibbles, but the best part was the conversation and the music.

Above is Chris Pritchard, his daughter Hailey singing and son-in-law Rob on the right also playing the guitar. Hailey has a beautiful voice. Below you can see Cletus Black (a well-loved local Blues singer) singing one of his original songs. He has such a presence.
It was a lovely evening and lots of fun.Thanks for including us.

Speaking of lucky, do you know what this is?

What we have at Small Studio is a collection of 1940s radios and tubes. John has to clean them all up, but they will be in store soon. Thanks Keir.

Small Studio Today

We had our store open house today and it was a lovely success. I really, really enjoyed seeing so many old friends and new, so many former customers and new. Thank you. THANK YOU for sharing the day and supporting our shop. We so appreciate all of you.

We had refreshments.

We made a forest of S.A.R. trees. So cute. Thank you Aimee Kluiber for running the back room Make & Take.

I posted this photo on Facebook, but wanted the rest of you to see the package I wrapped using common Kraft paper, pretty ribbon, script tape and paper feathers, all from Small Studio. I love this package.

Last, but foremost, Congratulations to Kurtis and Michelle. May your life together be filled with love, laughter and much happiness.

Odds and Ends

1. Creepy Baby Head, a Michael deMeng demo piece, has been traveling again all over the house. While we had Thanksgiving company, Creepy Baby Head would show up in all sorts of odd and random places.

2. I made lasagna over the weekend. Please note that this was NOT Kelsey's recipe. It was my mom's.

3. Packages at the store

Don't forget our Holiday Open House on Sat, Dec 8th. 10-2 26113 Detroit Road Westlake OH Jefferson Square where Mitchell's and Panera's both are.

Holiday Open House

Small Studio's Open House Saturday Dec 8th 10:00-2:00 Please Join Us!

We are looking forward to having you join us for our 1st Annual Holiday Open House. There will be refreshments, free demos by Aimee and a "Make & Take" project.

The store is chock full of great gift items and wonderful Holiday decorations.

Here is a sampling of what you will find:

NICOLE SAYRE ANGELS* LORI MITCHELL CHARACTERS* HOLIDAY WRAPS AND RIBBONS AND TAGS* CEILING TIN STARS* SANTAS* SNOWMEN* TIN SOLDIERS* ORNAMENTS* HANDMADE VINTAGE TIN TREES*

TOKYO MILK FRAGRANCE AND LOTION* PARIS BISTRO TABLEWARE* GLASS CLOCHES (DOMES)* STOWE & STOWE STUDIO HANDMADE DOLLS* CLARISSA CALLESEN HANDMADE CHARMS* METAL LETTERS & NUMBERS* AUTHENTIC LONDON BUS SIGNS* ART SUPPLIES* GREETING CARDS*

SMALL STUDIO Eclectic & Curious Goods

JEFFERSON SQUARE

26113 DETROIT ROAD

WESTLAKE OH 44145

440-808-8599

Hours: Tues, Wed,Thurs 10-6 Fri-Sat 10-5

We will be closed Dec 25th Jan 1st.

http://www.smallstudioproductions.com

Family Thanksgiving

I know everyone has already posted all their holiday photos, but we have been enjoying our company so much that I have not had a chance to post. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with almost all of our family. Granddaughter Kelsey made most of our meals and they were absolutely wonderful. She is a fabulous cook and will be a fabulous chef when she graduates from Johnson and Wales culinary school. She even brought her own knives.

Here is her olive tart. Delicious.

Kelsey carving the turkey with hungry bystanders:

Jessica, our daughter-in-law made the desserts and we ate all of them. Her pie was picture perfect.

The obligatory table shot:

Kate and Margee (daughter and DIL) were kind to do most of the clean-up.

Granddaughter Rachel spent two days making necklaces up in my art room. She declared that she sounded like wind chimes when she walked.

Kelsey found time to make necklaces, too.

It was the best Thanksgiving ever. Being surrounded by our large blended family who all like each other and who all pitch in with gusto and joy is truly the best.

The Small Kitchen

So last night, after watching the 10 year old grandson play basketball and winning, we took Kelsey to Melt, a restaurant that specializes in variations of grilled cheese sandwiches. She ordered the Turkey Bomb which is Thanksgiving dinner between two slices of thick toasted bread. Surprisingly, she could not finish it.

Did I mention that granddaughter Kelsey is in her 2nd year of culinary school (johnson and Wales) and wants to cook for us. Oh darn. I hate that. NOT! So we spent the day yesterday and today shopping for food and planning menus. We took Kelsey to West Side Market to shop for produce and spices and bread and more.

Tonight John's son and wife arrived and Kelsey made us a really delicious dinner. We had Dry Rubbed London Broil with a mushroom demi-glace, AuGratin Potatoes with a Parmesean crust and steamed asparagus with pecans. Everyone deemed it delicious and took a second helping. Great food, great conversation. A perfect meal.

Tomorrow my oldest son arrives with his three other children. John's daughter and her partner also arrive. Full house during Thanksgiving is wonderful.

I forgot to take a photo of Kelsey's meal tonight, but I did take a photo of our refrigerator which is usually half empty.

Halloween Project

John has been doing a little skull painting for the upcoming holiday. He did the small ones.

Halloween Project

Where shall we put our Halloween goodies in the store? That was the question. All of our surfaces are full. So, I hear "project" reverberating through the air.

This:

sanded and painted, turned into this:

and this:

and this:

Thank you, John!

Just a few days until Teesha and Tracy show up. I can't wait. They are always such fun and between them have enough creativity to burst the universe. Don't forget that all Teesha's workshops at the store and Tracy's are at the Landings Rec center in Avon Lake. Directions are online.

Odds and Ends

Last to be in the Loop: That is me. I just found out about Martha Stewart's new alliance with Avery labels.

I think these are only available at Staples. I really like them and the way they look a bit like the vintage Avery labels we all covet.  Martha's are even a bit yellowed. Have I mentioned that Martha and I both lived in Westport CT at the same time? She used to cater parties I attended. I was at her home once for a fundraising event, but that would be another post.

Am I the last person to be reading "Unbroken" by Lauren Hillenbrand? I am engrossed in this book.  I may have to close the store to finish it. Well, no, I wouldn't do that. It is intense and full of history and very well written.

Do you need ideas for Easter eggs? 

There are some lovely ideas here.

Before you go, here is another use for the trendy tapes we all love right now. This is a great way to keep your flowers upright. The photo below may have used ribbon, but the tissue and washi tapes would work great for this.

This unintentionally seems to be a red/pink post. That is okay because red is my favorite color, although I am really drawn to red and yellow together. Do you have favorite color combinations? 

Gasoline is $3.65  a gallon in our town today, down from $3.89 over the wekend.

Have you signed up for our store class March 31st?  Mix it Up is all about combining layers of paper and other materials to make a sturdy craft paper-cloth. It will be a fun class with Candace Rich. Call the store to sign up: 440-808-8599

Small Studio Workshop Series sign-ups are strong, but there is still room in all workshops.Fill out a registration form (the paintbrush at the bottom of the page is the link) and mail with a check to secure your place.

May: Leighanna Light

June: Michael De Meng and Andrea Matus

July: Carol Owen

August: Teesah Moore and Tracy Moore

September: Pam Sussman

October: Keith Lobue

 

For Better & Worse

You know that old saying that sometimes things need to get bad before they can get better?  Well, that is definitely true in the case of fixing up the new store. 

We actually got possession on Dec 1 and that is the day that the floor guys came to remove the old carpet and much damaged floor.  As often happens, they ran into trouble and did not finish until today. So the construction crew that was scheduled for today had to be rescheduled.  In the meantime cabinets, a sink and faucet have arrived ready to be put in place for work stations in the soon to be classroom.

We have ordered a few display units.  An IPad based cash register system is on the way.  Paint colors have been picked out and mixed, tables for the classroom have been ordered, but we have not found chairs that are both sturdy and reasonable priced.

And two Christmas presents have been purchased.  Before you clap your hands in approval, take into account that we have 31 people in our close family that we like to gift.

Be happy! 

 

Decorating for Christmas

Have you decorated your home for the Holidays yet?  

I haven't decorated the hearth yet, but I have acquired store insurance.

I haven't decorated the front of the house, but I have arranged for the old store carpeting to be removed on Thursday.

I haven't hung wreaths around the house, but I did meet today with a contractor to add a wall and build our cash counter in the store.

And I haven't decorated the living room, but I have started the outside sign process for the store.

I had better put "decorating" on my calendar!

Be happy.  

A Little Road Trip

It has been lovely weather here all week and John and I have been gone almost every day, antiquing and driving and just enjoying the last days of warmish weather. Today we went up to Ann Arbor MI to visit one of my favorite stores, Found, in the Kerrytown shops.  This is an awesome store.  The owner has a keen eye for old things, new things, quirky things and especially for display.

The store was all decked out for Christmas and shoppers were snapping up the items as soon as they laid eyes on them.

The owner always has some interesting art items on display and for sale.

I couldn't resist some canvas placemates that say "SIT. EAT" and little hand appliqued stockings that they had displayed with silverware tucked inside. I love the twill "Believe" ribbon, too.

Visit Found soon.

Valentine's Day

I went to Costco today to get some shrimp to stir fry for John's Valentine dinner.  A friend recently mentioned that Costco had some huge fresh shrimp. Expensive per pound, but not so much when there is just the two of us.

Costco did have huge shrimp.  It was from Indonesia.  Then they had extra large shrimp from Vietnam.  I couldn't buy it. What did it cost the universe to get this shrimp here? What was the carbon footprint of this shrimp?  Was it worth it to me to purchase it?  No, it was not.  I have no idea how to estimate the carbon footprint, so I tried to Google it.  I didn't find out, but here is a small bit of info that I came across: To farm shrimp in Vietnam and other Asian countries, mangroves are destroyed to make way for the brackish ponds needed for the shrimp. Mangroves protect the coastal areas, provide barriers to storms, habitat for wildlife and all those other environmentally important functions. In Vietnam 90% of the mangroves have been destroyed.  In their place, the shrimp ponds are making the farmers rich due to the huge demand for shrimp from Japan and the US.  Our demand has gone up almost 25% in just a few years partially due to the Gulf oil spill. Unfortunately, the ponds last much less than a decade before the chemicals used in the farming process poison the shrimp and make the ponds useless for any living thing. So the farmers move on to another location. The governments in this area of Asia encourage the shrimp production and in fact the World Bank finances it.  Short term, very short term, the farmers, are making money but at what cost to their environment? Do I want to support this?  No. There used to be a saying " If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem".

I really am not a fanatic, but just concerned about all the things I might be doing unknowingly to hurt the lives of my grandchildren.  Most times I feel helpless to do anything that will really make a change, but there are so many little things that can make a difference if we all try.  Isn't this what love is all about, protecting those we care about? Hug those you love.

By the way, John took me out to dinner.

More new stuff on Etsy today.

post #662

I went outside today.  

It was the first time I have been outside this year.

After John and I returned from CA after his mother's service and helping the siblings clear out the old family home, we returned to OHio for just a couple of days to check on things, have Christmas with my son and his family and then we went back to NV & CA. We were only in OH for a total of 5 days in Dec. Returning on New Year's Eve, we both came home sick. I was laid out completely with stomach flu and I am still pretty weak.  I seldom get sick, but when I do, I make up for the healthy years. Poor John who wasn't much healthier became nursemaid. He is is the best.  We both survived.

While we were in the West we had several of these beautiful big roasted turkeys.  Nothing says Christmas dinner like turkey.

The most hilarious gift of the year was exchanged between my two brothers.  Better than the gift itself, were the many jokes that bounced around the room when this unique kitchen knife holder was opened..

I was so pleased to attend one of my friend, Tamara's, art parties.  We did felting!  The company was wonderful, the dinner delicious and the project fun.  I had never felted before.

No trip to CA is complete without some mockery.  The sign below assumes so much:

*that the food will be ready

*that the take out staff is organized

*that change/charges can be made quickly

*that anyone really cares enough to mark the time

Have a happy and healthy New Year.  I have missed you all.

This and That

1. Ya want fries with that?

These "hamburgers" are built out of cookies and candy. The buns are Nilla Wafers with sesame seeds held on top with a tiny bit of honey.  The meat part is a York mint and the rest is done with frosting.  Cute.

2. Someday I want to go to Kansas to shop at Curious Sofa. Wouldn't you?

3. Time to wrap presents.  Here are some ideas from the internet.

 

Because we were unexpectedly gone all month, we have not made a dent in our Christmas shopping and when one has five children (between us) plus spouses, 10 grandkids and 5 siblings with spouses (between us), it is a daunting task. 

 

 

Over the Top

Some people have such great holiday enthusiasm, spirit and money to pay the electric bill.

KerstFeest

I am half Dutch so I have been told. I have not been able to prove it really, although I do have proof of my great, great, great grandmother being born in Hoorn Holland (Netherlands). In the late 80s, I had the opportunity to live in Wassenaar, Holland. I have mentioned before that my daughter had a Dutch boyfriend while we lived there and several years later, after we moved back to the states, they married. They have 3 children who are more Dutch than I am, but they haven't visited there...yet.

Dutch Christmas (KerstFeest) is differently celebrated than our American Christmas.  First of all they honor Sinterclaus who arrives dressed as a Bishop on a white horse in early December on a boat from Spain accompanied by a small black man call Swarte Pete.

 
Chocolate Letters are given out at this time among other treats.

Then on Christmas Eve the children leave wooden shoes filled with hay and berries for the horse.  If they have been good the shoes are filled with sweets and toys.  If they have been bad, Swarte Pete leaves little brown cookies that resemble droppings (instead of coal).

When we lived there, it wasn't as commercial as our holiday. Less gift giving, but just as many parties and dinners. I loved seeing the windows of the major stores which were predominately filled with elaborate gingerbread house or whole village replicas made of chocolate. The Dutch love their chocolate. 

Holland is filled with open squares where stalls are set up for Market day in the warmer months.  In December Hot Chocolate cafes/huts spring up in the squares. Generally I never, ever drink hot drinks, but oh, that hot chocolate was wonderful.

A wonderful tradition in winter in Holland is highly anticipated every year.  The citizens wait for the canals to freeze over.  It doesn't happen all that often, but when it does, there are many ice skating competitions on the frozen canals.

I have such wonderful memories of living in Holland.

 

Dreaming of Christmas Decorating

I don't know why I like  photos of "white" decorating so much when I have done my house in a dozen deep colors.  The white photos are dreamy and calming and impractical for the way we live.  We are a feet-up kind of family.  We own our furniture, it does not own us. Christmas decorations come in all colors. I own mostly traditional red and green stuff, yet I love the photos of the white stuff.  

Here are some photos that appealed to me today.

I also love red and white and look at the black and white checkered floor.

Our bedroom is red and white whereas this one above is white with a bit of red.  Great headboard.

I like the apple green accents and the hardwood floor in this photo.

I just like this black hutch with the wreath.  I can picture the family sitting round the table sharing stories and laughter.

These plates would look great in the cabinet above.  Red and white again.

I like this little pinecone tree, too. All photos are from Country Living, Elle Decor and Fresh Home.

Odds and ends:

1. I can't believe how many catalogs we are receiving in the mail lately and many are for things we never have or would shop for.  We recycle them at our library.

2.  We saw "Morning Glory".  It would make an good tv movie.  Rachel McAdams was over the top perky and Harrison Ford was over the top grumpy and Diane Keaton was the character she always plays. It was cute and predictable.

3.  We have noticed more outdoor Christmas lights already up.  Maybe it is because we had a warm spell and everyone decided it would be easier to put them up early rather than in the cold. Many of the lights are a combination of red, blue and purple.  This color mix doesn't show up as well as plain twinkle lights.

4.  Monday and Tuesday were about 60, Wednesday about 30 and snowflakes that didn't stick.

5. We have confirmed Michael deMeng, Teesha and Tracy Moore and Pam Sussman for our workshops next year (2011).  I will let you know who els as soon as they are confirmed.  Registration will begin in late January.

 

Not Even December Yet

Maybe when the stores begin pushing Christmas very, very early, it seems as if this is old stock already.

Holiday Road Trip 2

WE CAME TO A FORK IN THE ROAD...

AND A LITTLE UNEXPECTED HUMOR IN SOUTH PASADENA CA!

A trip to CA is never complete without a trip to Zinnia's.  

When I was there in September they had just moved to their new store a few doors from their old store. This visit the store was overflowing with goodies that I had not seen before.  I am so fond of owner Tamara and in awe of her creative displays and inspiring inventory. She is unique to say the least.

Look at this chandelier that hangs in the store.

It is decorated with a zillion ribbons and paper ornaments. Tassels and dolls and trinkets have been hung from it with abandon.

I guess I said all the right things while I was in the store because I was invited to an art party at Tamara's creative and whimsical home the next night.  Talk about a great Christmas present!

(L-R: Tamara, me, Joe, Sukie, Tyn, Paul, Shar and Linda.)  Photo by Storey Tolkin

Tamara gave us all a stack of 2"x2" mini canvasses to finish (she also gave us a great dinner) in a given amount of time. The locals brought their own materials, but lucky me I got to use Tam's stuff. When we were finished we were able to chose one from each other's work.  Great idea and we had so much fun.

Mine

Some of Paul's

Joe's

Linda's

Sukie's (one of Tamara's bling-y ones on top right.      

I didn't get a photo of all the canvasses and I am truly sorry for they were all very wonderful. 

Thank you Tamara for including me.  I had a great time!

This and That

Yes, it is me, Ginny, standing on my head trying to complete the tricks of the season, getting everything done that I want to get done.  You too?  Somehow the tasks have not lent themselves to anything of blog interest unless you really want to know how long I had to stand in line at the post office to mail the last of my out of state Christmas parcels and Small Studio orders.  

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ORDER FROM SMALL STUDIO UNTIL AFTER CHRISTMAS.  Just a heads up.

Pat Pleacher sent me this lovely envelope and some fun ephemera inside.  For some reason it won't load in the proper orientation on my blog.  You can still appreciate the lovely calligraphic work, stamping prowess and attention to small details.  Thank you, Pat!  My local postal employees thank you, too.

John and I made some handmade gifts this year.  I cannot show them to you because the someones who are receiving these gifts read my blog. We intended to make almost all our gifts, but the gifts we chose took much longer than we expected and I spent way more time at the PO standing in line than I anticipated.  I am not complaining (I always appreciate your orders), just rationalizing my lack of true handmade efficiency.  Do good intentions count?

We did sneak off to see "Brothers" on Monday afternoon. It is a very heavy emotional movie but the acting is superb and all three main actors should receive Oscar nominations, particularly Toby McGuire. 

Have a great day.

 

The Holidays

Wrapping presents while listening to Christmas Carols with the tree lights and maybe a Santa watching me work, is one of my favorite holiday traditions.  The tree cannot be trimmed without carols in the background.  Cookies cannot be baked and presents cannot be wrapped without holiday music.  There has to be something peppermint, something that imparts the smell of cinnamon and of course cookies shaped like trees and bells.  I love the mess of wrapping paper, ribbons and tags.  I love all the preparation and anticipation of the holidays.  Since my kids are grown up and have families of their own, it is not my kitchen or my tree that is the center of the festivities anymore.  I miss that.  John and I are working out our own traditions and ways of celebrating.  It sometimes requires us to travel great distances during the holidays and means that we have more than one "Christmas".  We celebrate with my middle son's family in Ohio, my daughter's family in Nevada, John's family in CA and also my brothers in CA.  My oldest son's family has their own traditions.  Miss him too.  It is hectic, but lots of fun.  It also opens my eyes to traditions that are a little different than the ones I had as a child and as a young mom.  

When I was growing up, the family was large with many aunts, uncles and cousins.  Trees were buried under the mounds of presents.  There were dozens of dessert platters, lots of food, maybe skits that my aunt and uncle would do and one magical Christmas Santa visited our Christmas Eve party.  I was three or four and I believed I even saw his reindeer.

We moved away from this big family when my kids were young and had to start new traditions.  We had Christmas tree parties with other families where we all converged on a Christmas tree farm, cut our trees and met back at our house for a big party.  We joined other families for a caroling party every year, We went into New York City on Christmas day to see the 5th Ave store windows, the lights, the tree and the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center and finished up with a big Italian dinner at Mama Leone's because it was the only place open in the city.  

Traditions change and adapt as we move through our lives. Sometimes we only appreciate them in hindsight.  I love the comfort of old traditions, but I also love the freshness of the new ones.  My daughter carries out many of the traditions handed down to me from my mom and now they are hers.  I like that too.

What are your favorites?

 

First Day of Winter

I know.  It isn't really the first day of winter, but it seemed like it for several reasons. The season has started for me. John and I decided that today we would go forth and conquer our Christmas shopping list. We started the day with breakfast out which we only do when we are traveling.  But we needed to fortify ourselves for a long day of shopping.  I am not a good shopper.  I think it may be because I was a shopkeeper for so long.  I get annoyed at poor service, unfriendly clerks, unmarked product, and other "givens' for customer service. Plus, I know when a store is charging more than suggested retail (for some things, anyway).  Maybe John suggested breakfast out to fortify him against my lack of enthusiasm to go shop.  But off we went. list in hand for our families.  

As we sat at our breakfast, we laid out our plan of attack. There was a table of four men next to us in deep and serious discussion which seemed odd since one man had a Santa hat on and a lovely and obviously real white, nicely trimmed beard. Sometimes their low chatter almost sounded musical.  But wait!  Listen, I said to John.  I think they are singing.  All of a sudden, the men started singing louder and then burst into full four part harmony.  They were wonderful.  This old time barbershop quartet sang a couple of carols from their table, finished their song and left amid loud applause from all the other diners.  Things like this only happen in the movies, but here it was happening in our own regular old life. Such a great start to the day.  Life is good.

We stopped by the post office and we carried all the packages in to be mailed.  These were Small Studio packages and since I mentioned what great gift ideas we had, many of you took this to heart and I spent almost all weekend packing orders. Thank you to all who support my little business. The post office was empty.  This seldom, if ever happens,  Lucky us.

We drove over to the shopping center and pulled into a place right in front of the store we were aiming for.  Unheard of. The same luck happened all day.  Every store we hit had exactly what we wanted to buy. There were crowds, but everyone was smiling and polite and friendly including the helpful clerks. Life is good.  

The mail lady brought Christmas cards with long Christmas letters, which I love receiving  and cards with photos of families I love. Do you like Christmas letters?  I know some people think they are tacky, but I really want to see how big the kids have grown and where this year's vacation was and how the job is going, etc. Thank you to my friends and family that continue this practice. Life is so good. 

We had yummy leftovers for dinner.  Easy and quick and then we began wrapping gifts together.  This is hilarious because John wraps in a very unique way.  He likes to use all the bits and oieces...on one package.  

Now here is the "frosting" on our day.  Outside we are having our first snow.  It isn't really sticking, but the flakes coming down are big and soft and lovely.  It seems like the first day of winter.  Life is definitely oh so good.  

Holiday Gift Ideas

The parking lots are full and crazy.  The lines at the stores are long.  Maybe it is really cold outside (32 F here tonight with a wind chill of 20F!!!!) and you have decided to look online.

I have some ideas for you from our Emporium at Small Studio and we ship within 24 hours (48 hours on weekends).

We have a variety of blank bezels that can be filled and made into great gifts. The board above has samples that Pam Sussman and I made one night before ArtFest a few years ago.

How about a canvas bucket to help organize or display rolled papers, magazines, towels, etc.  I love these.  They crush down for storing and have a great look to them.  We also have French themed canvas tote bags.

We have just a handful left of these limited edition cards made for a special exhibition by artists Kahn & Selesnick a few years ago. Your arty friends will appreciate them.  They commemorate a fictitious event. Very cool.

Then we have a zillion (or at least 25) kits that you could make or gift to someone who likes to play.

The three photos above are samples of a) Dash Shrine, b) six compartment slide cubby and c) La Guardarropa (wardrobe).  The latter sample is by Linda Cain.

We have a good variety of embellishments, kits, paper goods old and new, postcards, blank books and a number of special find items for all.  Check our etsy shop too!