meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

This just in...the long awaited opening of OAK Boston Handmade Boutique in Boston's tony Back Bay neighborhood. Keara has worked her fingers to the bone assembling a retail collection of the best handmade goods from artisans everywhere. A wide selection of designer clothing, artisan toys, unique jewelry, hand-printed paper goods and more await you at 31 Gloucester Street, just a few high-heeled steps off of the legendary upscale shopping mecca of Newbury Street.

A special selection of Crostini Designs handmade jewelry will be available when the store opens its doors to the public for the first time today!

I'm pleased to offer these exclusive designs only at OAK Boston! Be sure to stop in if you are in the neighborhood.

I haven't even had my espresso yet, so I am super "insert mystery word here" as I write up this rare and early-Monday-morning-appropriate Etsy find. It isn't often that I showcase other Etsy artisans, but in this case, I felt compelled to spread the...word (did I mention I have yet to down my morning espresso?)

Wordsmith & Master Jeweler Chelsea Main of eighty8words creates the perfect pendants to represent that which you are feeling, or wish to convey, without the hassle of speaking!

Meticulously handcrafted from tumbled sterling silver, each word is rendered in an antique typewriter-esque font and silhouetted by an inky pool of protective, black resin. Take, for example, her "cranky" pendant below, which I have chosen to illustrate my official morning word:

With a selection of ready-to-wear, evocative nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns and love letters readily available in her Etsy store, most of us are good to go.

However, if you desire a special word that you don't necessarily want tattooed on your person, but would rather wear it emblazoned in shiny, sterling silver around your neck, eighty8words takes custom word orders upon request. Think of the possibilities!

In her own words:

..."for all you word lovers out there who are tired of wearing a pendant that says LOVE when you really feel like kicking someone's ass. Sometimes you just don't want to Believe in Love and have Faith. Sometimes you feel Cranky or Shy or Coy, or maybe love is too strong a word, and Smitten will do. I hear you, people, I'm doing my best to help!"

Thanks Chelsea! In my case, I think I've found my muse...

The sun is shining today, which must be nice for everyone who needs some airing out. For my part, this weekend I have been airing out my studio; digging through 10-gallon plastic bins of vintage stash and assembling all kinds of nifty supply packs for my Etsy vintage & supply outlet, crostini*VS.

Because once I get started on something I tend to explode with motivation, and grow a million extra arms like Avalokitesvara, I also banged out four new collectible, mixed-media collage pieces for Crostini designs and a materials study for a new alternative embroidery series that I've been working on.

Not bad for a Saturday. I hope that this steady flow of focused creative production continues, because April showers bring loads of deadlines for yours truly, and I like to make hay while the sun shines.

Tomorrow: stay tuned for a special Monday morning design pick and an announcement about Crostini at retail! 

It has been a light week for writing, due to the fact that I have had family in town and therefore the rare chance to show people around Providence, which I still feel that I am getting to know myself as a relatively new Boston transplant.

Locals may have seen me dragging my eerily resemblant mother and aunt down Thayer and Benefit streets (note: the latter relative = me in 20 years, the former = me in 30 years), with a very unenthusiastic 11-year old cousin in tow. It isn't family day without a stop at the gift shop, so after a brief stint at the RISD Museum to skim the concise and impressive Styrofoam and Evo/Revo shows, we hit up RISD Works.

I wasn't planning on any purchases, but my intrepid mother scouted out the sole copy of Dirty Wow Wow and other love stories, by Cheryl and Jeffrey Katz. I had to treat myself to this sweet, little hard-cover book, which documents in neutral, portrait-style photography the well-loved, tattered and often humorously repaired softies and blankies of childhood in their "sunset years". With short, fable-like biographical essays accompanying each portrait, I find this collection in pleasing contrast to my "Lost and Found" cell-phone photo documentary series of abandoned softies.

Oh, and the dust-jacket cover art features the retro-pup "Le Mutt" (in this edition knighted "Rover" by his small person).

I was once the proud owner of both a "Le Mutt" and his paramour, "Fi-Fi La Femme" back in the good 'ol early 1980's. I recall that "Le Mutt" had a very weak ear, but that didn't stop me from spinning him by it like a windmill until it came off, catapulting the poor canine into outer space.

I believe that you become a real grown-up when you start to willingly let go of the things you have been holding on to forever. Or, maybe I'm just a habitual stasher, finally running out of space! Either way, I'm happy to announce that I've officially opened my studio destash store on Etsy, called CROSTINI*VS:

My Hyde Park studio has been very patient with me over the last 8 years as I have slowly but surely loaded it up with stuff (i.e. every cool thing I find). Alas, I have come to terms with the fact that I will never use ALL of my vintage fabric, clothing and gift wrap finds, or my weaving yarn stash, or that wonderful glass jar full of mysterious gears! Various and delightful new goodies will be added weekly:

While you're perusing Etsy, don't forget to visit Crostini - the mama store, and home to my original jewelry, paper and mixed media designs. Click here for more info on Crostini designs.