A Brilliant Stranger? Indeed!

More than a few years back, while exploring Fish Creek (Door County, Wisconsin) I wandered into a little coffee and gift shop. I think I was with my sister Jodi, her husband Skott and my hunny bunny. Jodi and Skott, needing a caffeine fix, focused on the menu board and I wandered around looking at the gift items. At the time, it was mainly kitchen items like really cool towels, vintage looking measuring devices, books and whimsical hardware. Connected to it, but separate was another shop called Brilliant Stranger.

It had repurposed clothing with original screen printed images on them. And not just ordinary ones, but things like chandeliers, (thump, thump goes my heart) octopuses, owls with hats, stuff like that. Also;jewelry, posters with a vintage or quirky flair, hats and vintage shoes. (I bought a cow print pair of heels that day.)

I have made it a point to return every year since. Through the years I have bought necklaces, earrings, headbands, pins, posters, and my favorite purchase so far, a red shift dress with a chandelier screen printed on and some chain added for detail.

This year, I wandered in tired and in desperate need for a frozen blended chai. No one does them in Door Co. No one. Feeling hopeful and ever the optimist that I am, I asked the owner of Brilliant Stranger, Dawn if she would make me one. She asked me to describe how I liked it and with a warm smile on her face threw some stuff in her blender, hit the button and a couple minutes later I was drinking a delicious frozen chai. Mmmmmmm…..

Something to note, this year the coffee shop was much smaller and the gift shop was much larger. Dawn’s creations were expanding! She told me she’s moving to a different location next year where she can concentrate more on her designs.

I had lured my 15 (almost 16) year old son in with the promise that it was a “hipster friendly” store and he would love it. He did. She has a vintage men’s section with shirts, blazers, ties and hats.

He found the only bow tie she had left, a plaid shirt and a screen printed tshirt. He has a thing for bow ties and the tshirt made me laugh out loud, so I had to buy it for him.

Look at it!

It’s a badger riding an old fashioned bicycle with a top hat! (I dare you not to laugh or even crack a smile at it…)

How hilarious is that? He also liked this one of a fox riding a bicycle…

And here is my handsome “little” man in his vintage plaid shirt with the bow tie…

I got so distracted buying his stuff and talking to Dawn and being so giddy with my frozen chai that I forgot to buy something for myself! I did go back, snap some photos, order another frozen chai, buy some typography letters for myself and chatted with Dawn for a quick minute. The place was hopping and she was busy. She also had to make another frozen chai when a lady in line chatted me up about mine.

Time to add it to the menu?

Check out her website at BrilliantStranger.com and if you find yourself in Door Co, visit her in Fish Creek.

Maybe she’ll make you a frozen chai if you ask nice enough.  And I should have bought that vintage check men’s western shirt with the pearl snaps. Dang!  I can’t stop thinking about it…

p.s. I forgot to announce the winner of the “Skirt the Possibilities” winner…

Congratulations to Lisa I of Chetek, WI!

CoCo, Custom Fit Slipcovers and Cuuuute Skirts!

I met my friend Colleen over 10 years ago when I had my shop and she started coming in to bring me sewing projects. I have done slipcovers, pillows, tablecloths, curtains, cushions and some custom painting for her for years. She quickly grew on me and I really, really like her. She’s funny, open, ambitious, energetic, kind and giving. She’s also really pretty. She’s a spunky petite blond with beautiful green (or blue?) eyes and she will tell it like it is!

The story goes that when she was a little girl she would only wear skirts and as she grew up, her love affair with skirts grew into a skirt selling business called “Skirt the Possibilities.”

She spends a lot of time searching for cute, unique, comfortable and great fitting skirts. Every time I go to her house to work on a project for her, I come home with a new skirt or 2, leggings or a scarf.

Her loveseat slipcover…

(oops! sorry it’s sideways…)

My new skirt….

Her chair slipcover..

My new leggings..

In fact, all these skirts (minus 2 or 3) are from CoCo…

This is one of my favorites, a stretchy orange maxi skirt. It’s soooo comfortable!

Another favorite. (because of the sparkles and leopard, how can you beat that combination?)

I call this one “pockets” because of the pockets. (duh.)

This one looks very “Chanel” to me and looks super cute with leggings, boots and a jean jacket.

She has dedicated 2 rooms in her gorgeous home to her skirts. One room has racks of skirts…

The other is a dressing room for you to try on skirts. There is plenty of room in the comfortable dressing room for you and a couple girlfriends to try on all the skirts, leggings and scarves CoCo has available. She hosts parties and gives you yummy snacks and drinks, or you can shop her website Skirtthepossibilites.com or find her on facebook at Skirt the Possibilites.

If you are the indecisive type and just can’t choose from all the skirts, she is a “skirt whisperer” and has an uncanny ability to look at you and then pull a skirt that is perfect!!! She just did that to me the other day! Check out my skirt she pulled for me. It looks good casual with flip flops or dressed up with heels.

What girl couldn’t use a new skirt handpicked by the “skirt whisperer?” Go “like” her on facebook now at Skirt the Possibilities.” Your foxy new self in your new skirt will thank me!

Leave a comment to win a gift certificate at Skirt the Possibilities!

Happy skirt wearing!

My Closet, Chandeliers and Decoupage…

Years ago when Mother’s Day was approaching, my husband asked what I would like for Mother’s Day. I like to name off outlandish and bizarre things to freak him out. “A trip to France! A vintage ’68 Mustang! Wax lips!” Sometimes I’ll tell him a new drill or teeth whitening strips, whatever springs into mind at the moment. I’m just messing with him. (Except about the drill, at the time I really wanted a new one with lots of guts!)

One spring, I decided I wanted a closet. A real closet. Like the kind you see in magazines. As I have previously mentioned, I have a very old (131 years old) house with 2 closets in the entire house. One is downstairs in the entryway and one is in the middle bedroom upstairs. And we had the perfect space in our bedroom for one. It was called a “nursery” originally, just a tiny open room off our bedroom measuring 7×9.

So when the hunny asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day that year, I had a bullet in the chamber. “A closet! For real this time, I want a closet.”

Something about my hunny, he is not a handy man. His talents lie in other areas and building things is not one of them, but he did it! He made me a closet!

I could finally see all my clothes and shoes and organize everything. It was fabulous! I am slightly OCD about a few little things and organizing my clothes is one of them. I like to hang them by color so when I feel like wearing pink, I can go to my “pink section” and choose what I’m in the mood for.

I have a dress form I love with a few bags and race medals hanging on her.

I have all my shoes organized by heels or flats, boots are in boxes because I need more shoe shelves.

My jeans and pants are folded and I can see what I have, which makes pulling a pair to wear easier and my leggings are all in one place so I can see what I have.

What I need and am on the hunt for is a small piece of furniture or bookshelf to make into an island to float in the closet to put my jewelry case on with shelves for baskets for my gym clothes or shoes.

I bought this jewelry case at an antique store, decoupaged the bottom shelf (which originally had some ratty fabric lining the bottom) with a copy of a French document I purchased in Paris at the flea market.

I added a tassel for a handle, and put my favorite jewelry pieces inside, both to display and to make it easier for me to remember what I had. Almost every piece that is my favorite my friend Susan Jacoby made. She makes the most fabulous jewelry from broken vintage pieces and found objects. (I will make her the focus of an upcoming blog, so stay tuned.)

And what closet would be complete without a chandelier? (I like to call the tiny ones “chandies” pronounced “shandy”) Here’s my chandie…

Funny thing, I am outgrowing my closet and secretly dream about moving my hunny’s clothes out so I can expand my dresses and skirts and shoes and cardigans and blazers and did I say skirts?

Sigh….I love my closet.

Butterflies, Dresses and New Shoes…OH MY!

So when my client turned friend (I can’t seem to help myself when I work such awesome people.) asked me to help with decorating for her 3rd Anniversary party I quickly said YES! She is easy to work with, has great ideas and is receptive to ideas I have. Plus, we brainstorm very well together, she trusts me and allows me some creative freedom. She wanted a butterfly theme with pink and orange as the main colors.

So I started brainstorming butterflies. Butterflies on the name cards at the place settings, butterflies hanging off the chandelier under the cake, (adorned with butterflies) butterflies with table assignments on, butterflies clipped in trees and scattered on the tables….

In the middle of all this as the date came closer, I was struck with a sudden and horrifying thought….WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR? My clothes looked too dark and wintery or too casual for such a bright and happy occasion. Oh no. Now I have to shop. I don’t generally like shopping, I don’t like taking my clothes off and on, my hair gets all static-y, and I feel sweaty and bored. I do, however, like going to TJ Maxx. I usually don’t leave empty handed and they have really good prices on good brands. There is something to be said for well-made clothes fitting much better than not-so–well-made.

I didn’t even have to look very hard in the dress section when I came across this little cutie. It’s bright pink (so I would match the color scheme) and lacy and so cute on!

When I got home I realized I didn’t have any shoes to match it. Black shoes would look too clunky, white shoes would be too “white”. I needed pink shoes or nude shoes. I had nude platform patent leather pumps in mind, but it would be cool if I could find the same in pink. I couldn’t find the right shade of pink and didn’t have a whole day (or the desire) to drive to every store in town looking for them, but I found these beauties…

Perfect!

Hold on! As I was looking I saw a darling pair of black flats with ankle straps adorned with (hold your breath here) RHINESTONES! Chunky ones! Lots of them, all over the straps! OMGOSH! I do not need black flats, I already have a few, but come on, who could pass up the rhinestone straps? Not this girl! Look how cute they are on….

Who could blame me? My honey just needs to understand, like I understand his Eddie Bauer habit and pretend I don’t see the bags under the bed.

The party was a blast, the food was amazing, the decorations looked great, the company was fun and I danced until my feet throbbed! (New shoes, after all!)
And the best part of being the last one to leave is taking home one of the floral centerpieces….