Friday, February 29, 2008

Fantastic HANDBAG Arrivals




As the shop preps to open, tons of great stuff is pouring into the shop--including an excellent batch of handbags by meticulous handbag creator Melanie Chabre aka Bagsbymelanie, out of New Ipswich.

Melanie's bags are all about careful craftsmanship, clean lines--and fantastic fabrics.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Opening UPDATE!


Things have been rolling right along with the set-up of the Speakeasy Boutique. But a funny thing has happened...I've got all these boxes of GREAT stuff arriving daily, and I'm not even kidding! I need more time to get the space 'right', with all of the wonderful new merchandise in it's new home at the Boutique. It's like getting a fantastic 3-D collage in order.

So the opening day of the Speakeasy Boutique has been moved to Friday, March 7, 2008, in order to facilitate increased fabulousness. If you'd like to come by though for a cup of tea with muchacha K to celebrate Leap Year, on the 29th? By all means! Drop me a note :)

Friday, February 22, 2008

Cool shop fixtures...


...with the Speakeasy Boutique opening next week, I'm working away on getting the space properly arranged. Next step: painting and hingeing together these tall screen displays. A deep berry color and magical golden hinges will complete the look...

Thursday, February 21, 2008

For example...delicious rings!



...these are a perpetual must have in the world of muchacha K. I personally own five and a gorgeous batch of them is currently featured here at the Speakeasy Boutique. They're the meticulous hand-work of Corinna Buchholz of Portland Oregon, who also happens to be a creator of awesomely vintage digital collage sheets.

The rings come in a variety of sizes, colors, stones, and are a large, chunky kind of beautiful. Questions about sizes and styles are welcome...

Monday, February 18, 2008

Simple Solutions for Ugly Fixtures

I've been working to ready the Speakeasy Boutique for its February 29th opening, but no matter how great the space was starting to look, there was a small problem: a really ugly, ancient lighting fixture, coming straight out of the wall. It is clearly a relic from the VERY old days. The building was built in 1874, so there's a lot of decades that could have spawned it.

Often times, older fixtures in older buildings are desirable, if not beautiful details, like the wooden mouldings around my doorways and windows in the studio. But this lighting fixture...I guess I should have posted a picture, but trust me, it's ugly...it's like it sprouted, Alien-style, straight out of the wall, and it's got parts missing, and it won't light up, even with a modern light bulb. It had to go...but couldn't be removed from the wall without damaging the wall, and I wasn't up for that project.

So I headed to the Mecca of simple solutions, IKEA--if you're going to participate in our capitalist culture of consumption, you may as well do your necessary acquiring at a store that recycles, and utilizes renewable resources, right?

Anyway, without further ado, here's the simple, attractive solution:

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Color Palettes!

This is one of my favorite websites...truly. This tells you something about my design-geekiness that I have a favorite website that is nothing but a collection of color palettes: Color Lovers . This week I am consulting the magical palettes as I finish painting the studio shop, the Speakeasy Boutique. Here is the palette I've created for the Boutique:Speakeasy Boutique


For those who DON'T know, the muchacha K Speakeasy Boutique is opening at the end of the month, featuring not only the work of muchacha K, but of other New England artists as well.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The City Says Yes!!!

It's official! The city has said yes to the Speakeasy Boutique! Updates to come! Wooooohooooooooooooo!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

New Design...


This is a modification of one of my classic patterns. I love making a small change like this, because even a small change can make a dramatic difference. Plus, when you're making a modification to a pattern, you "know" what it's going to look like, but you don't really "KNOW" what it's going to look like until it's done...well this one's done, and I think it's worked out nicely.