I grew up in Essex County, NJ, lived in Montclair when I was real little, onto West Orange for a bit and finally from age 9 years old til 27 years old I called Maplewood, NJ home. If you aren't familiar with these towns, Montclair and Maplewood are very similar, a few towns away from each other, ornate and fabulous architecture/historic homes, great cafes, boutiques and very, very artsy, just so much to see and do in these towns.
Montclair is perfect for exploring, so many nooks and grannies to search and photograph, we all know how much I love photographs, lol, so with that being said, Saturday was a perfect day to break out of the house and explore all the artsy goodness Montclair had to offer, with the warm weather, sun shining and make it a Saturday, I was off to explore.
First was a stroll into the Montclair Bookstore off Bloomfield Ave., which I love, love, love, so many great finds in this store, out of prints, rare, old, vintage and new, you could get lost in there with the different sections and floors inside, its like a Harry Potter bookstore right in modern day settings. Inside is filed from floor to ceiling with tons of books, mags and ephemera, if going allow at least an hour inside, my exploring buddy Dave lost me a few times inside, lol.
Then it was off to explore the rest of the stores, especially on Church Street, which over the years has played home to some of my favorite stores, sadly no longer there such as Cat's Pajamas, Toys in the Attic, British Tea Store and just down the road the funky vintage store: Boomerang, today its filled with equally fantastic stores, including the neighboring streets which have built up with boutiques and cafes as well, the even have an Anthropology store and Urban Outfitters. The starbucks is housed in the former Haynes Dept Store building which I visited often as a little girl, my communion dress came from there.
After a few hours of exploring, we were running out of steam, needed to eat, our first pick was Cuban Pete's but the wait would be over an hour, so we ventured out to Mcloone's Boat House overlooking the Turtle Back Res., in West Orange, such a great place, I recommend it for the view, especially Spring through Fall.
Next explore trip will be Art day at my former home town in Maplewood, NJ, the best hometown ever, so quaint and historic, also home to the fab store Perch Home.
P.S. All the photos in this post were taken from my Iphone 5 and the filters are Instagram, you can follow me there as well: moonfaires or type Lisa Kettell
xoxo
Lisa
Caldwell College book signing
Its warm and sunny here in NJ this week, a perfect time to take advantage of the the patio with the cozy swing, umbrella and side table to hold my coffee, lol.
Today I decided to grab the huge box I scored for $8.00 a few weeks ago and actually see what I got for that mere $8.00. Opening it was like opening a treasure chest, I knew I found great items, but forget what I actually bought. To my excited surprise I found about 25 vintage and some new children's books, one vintage book from 1895 in German w/color plates all about a puppet and toy maker ( right up my alley ), about 40 vintage piano and music sheet books, 10 figurines from 1940s, 50s and 60s complete w/a few bunny candy planters, old millinery, trims, Dennison's crepe paper and labels from the 1930s, vintage kitsch ornaments and novelties, about 30 or 40 vintage bulbs: Shiny Brite's, West Germany, Poland, Austria all in great condition, some 70's and 80's plastic toys, circus animals and vintage costumes, all for $8.00, now that is a total bargain if I don't say so myself, even my cat Lucky got in on the act, making a play date with my plastic toys, lol.
It was time to re-pack the ornaments, and put away my new faves in the stash, make a cup of coffee and sit on the patio swing to create and make my latest bow tie and baseball cuff orders, which I carried out in my up-cycled crochet sewing bag, which I made last year from old crochet pillow case, sewing bag handles and a variety of vintage pins, it holds my sewing supplies when I'm on the go.
Here's a sneak peak at my handmade sewing supply bag and some of the newest finished pieces for customers:
Bow Tie Bracelet and Shabby Pink Baseball Cuff were completed for customers, I made about 8 more bracelets (bow tie's and cuffs) everything is complete, its amazing how a warm sunny Spring day can get you inspired and motivated to complete projects fast, easy and smoothly.
Enjoy your weekend and start creating,
xoxo
Lisa
