wrap it up

b's family in l.a. shipped him some of his belongings last week, and some of them came packed in sheets of pink foam. i saved the sheets, knowing I could use them to wrap my orders. early on i was sending out goods in boxes, but then I discovered that if the items were packed well, I could use 6x9 brown envelopes. i started playing around with the pink foam, cutting it into strips, and stapling it into small envelopes. then i wrapped each one with a strip of vintage rayon seam tape (snagged from a short-lived job where I was a display artist) and voila- protected from damage and attractive at the same time. the pink sheets will come in handy because i decided months ago to stop buying ziplock jewelry bags. if i place the staples close together, the little pouches will be perfect for shipping beads ordered from my etsy shop.

woo hoo

site updated.

modishoppe

I am thrilled to be selling a new collection of necklaces, earrings and keychains at the online store modishoppe. the shop is the creation of the super talented and energetic jena coray, proprietor of the blog modish.

getting close

the fall update is almost ready to go live. in the mean time, check out what's on sale.

moving in, day fifteen

two weeks in the new apartment, and I seriously feel like I'm moving in slow-mo, juggling moving in with business affairs. the apartments I've lived in for the past eight years or so have been so small, (paired with my habit of living like a college student) that I never needed to make the kind of decisions we're dealing with now. this place is sort of like a shell, or an industrial studio. Our kitchen has ONE regular sized cabinet, and one tiny one over the stove. the counter space consists of SEVEN INCHES on either side of the sink. the medicine chest has no room for tall bottles, and there isn't an inch of counter space to put things on. so for the last two weekends, b and I have been visiting the various budget-minded home decor shops around the city, and we even took the shuttle bus over to IKEA in elizabeth, n.j. on sunday. the ever resourceful researcher, b has been searching online for kitchen islands, window blinds, (for our 87" long windows) a work table, bookshelves, and a filing cabinet. I did manage to empty a few boxes today, in between working on the website. ciao.

progress

yesterday I brought some new pieces over to ai ai gasa in park slope. the store just launched its web shop, which gives a little glimpse into the playful ethic of this unique boutique. ai ai gasa is located on a stretch of 5th avenue, running between atlantic ave. and 9th street, which is packed with boutiques, cafes, restaurants, wine shops, and some great new eco-friendly emporiums. If you find exploring brooklyn to be a little daunting, the various shopping districts are increasingly offering neighborhood guides, available for free inside the shops. I usually throw a copy of brooklynNow in my bag before venturing out, which has helped me to learn the layout of this sprawling borough.

as is the way my work flows, restocking ai ai gasa leads me to my next big project, launching the site for fall. pictured above is a swatch of the new home page background. now I must eat some lunch.

day eight

day six

day five

moving in

day four

moving in

day two

moved

I'm writing here from my new pad, just six blocks away from the old one, but indeed a different part of the neighborhood. I'll be experimenting with different train routes- I used to be two short blocks away from the J. Now we're about three quarters of a mile from three different J stops, and about a mile from the C train, but various buses run through Bed-Stuy. And there's always the bike I've been planning on getting. I woke up and snapped a few photos of the box-strewn apartment- now I just need to find the usb cord to upload them.

and speaking of moving, design*sponge relaunched its site on monday. go check it out.