Shopping Therapy....!

Ah yes - nothing like shopping to enliven the senses and crank up the creativity genes in the old noggin'. Started on Sunday. Jim and I attended the Novato Art Music and Wine festival, on Grant Ave. I just love looking at all the vendors have to offer and see what is new in the craft fair world. I only bought one thing - a beautiful dress made by a lovely woman from Ashland Oregan. She takes assorted floral print fabrics and patches them together. Then she creates the dresses, cut on the bias, so that they fit virtually anyone and are flattering to boot. Then she over dyes them to meld (is that a word?) the colours and make a cohesive whole. Just like we paper artists do with printed scrapbook paper and lumiere glazes!
The one i picked wasn't over dyed - she lets you pick the colour! She will ship it to me soon - can't wait! It will be the perfect hot weather summer frock. And yes ladies - it will be this season's must have MAXI length.

We enjoyed some great music and some great food. too early to enjoy the wine!
This week i received some very good news, after being here in California for 8 years, i finally got a green card! or "permanent residency" as it is legally called. 'Til now i have been working with a visa. So to celebrate i went to my "happy place" - Susan's Store Room in San Anselmo, CA. Next door used to be another fav, Buttons and Bows, but sadly they closed. In its place is a lovely shop with everything from ribbons, to journals, to vases to children's clothes. But what got me excited was the terrific selection of flocked papers! I bought an armful of greens and aquas.

Then next door to Susan's. It appears to be a toy store. But really it is so much more than that. Susan collects vintage dolls and bears and dollhouse furniture and combines them in a magical way. She also has a line of greeting cards and even a book featuring her bears. Her windows always have a magical assortment of items evoking at different times of the year, a picnic, a safari, or a schoolroom - all using her collections.

But what i love the best is the back room where a myriad of new and old items are displayed by country - like France, England, India and others. So there is so much eye candy to see it can be overwhelming - but there is always something you just have to buy.

This time i bought a packet of postage stamps with an assortment of illustrations - many birds and animals to use in collage. Some hawaiian themed sticker packs - never seen these before. 4 packs of napkins - with guess what - birds on them. I looked everywhere for bird napkins at christmas when i had my bird themed tree. I just need to make sure i save them somewhere where i can find them in 6 months!

I also bought a grab bag pack of vintage stuff. Susan explained she is clearing out her enormous stash of ephemera, ribbons etc. The pack i bought has some millinery flowers, lace, ribbons, postcards and a box with victorian scrap glued to the top she told me was a hankie box from the 1800's. I told her to try and sell some of her stuff on etsy - so maybe she will. But if you live anywhere in the San Francisco bay area - please come up to Marin County and visit her store in San Anselmo - she is having a big 50% off sale starting on Saturday!