>>>>Jane Through The Seasons

Ollie is one of the most beautiful people I've ever 'met.' And it gives me the outmost pleasure to have her here so you can meet her to. I am learning many new things about her through this interview. One of the things I love most about her is how open and full of life she is.  An awesome and very talented woman is Ollie of Betty Buckinghamshire and Betty B Vintage . 
A little about yourself My name is Ollie and I'm 54 years old. I live in the UK on the South Coast in Hastings. Hastings is a small town full of very individualistic - some may say slightly eccentric, creative people – and I love it!
My father was Nigerian and my mother English/Welsh but I was brought up by my aunt and uncle in Buckinghamshire then Surrey – places that in the 1960/70s hardly knew black people existed!
I left home when I was 16 and moved to London after a year or two.Having studied fashion and textiles for a couple of years in my 20s and after running 4 market stalls a week I opened a shop, The…

And today you meet the cool and talented Annie, the artist behind Tarnished and True.
A little about your self I am Annie Smith, the artist behind Tarnished & True, my handmade jewelry shop.  I also mother two kids, wrangle puppies, garden, and love a good outdoor adventure.

What is your Craft story? I came into metal smithing in college where I was required to take two semesters of a three dimensional art-like pottery, sculpture, or metals.  Metals was the only class that worked with my busy schedule, and thank goodness, because I was in love the first time I cut a line in a piece of copper!  I always thought I was a painter but now I know that working in metal is my true passion.  It just feels right.

How did you come to be on Etsy, do you sell anywhere else or would you like to? My family moved to Portland for my husband’s work.  Having left my old routine behind, I found I had an opportunity to put my focus on something new, something I was really inspired by, and so I started desig…

One of the most influential essays I have read thus far is Edmund Burke's On the Sublime and Beautiful.  It has change my perspective on many things, or perhaps it has encouraged me to look at things through a different tint. Burke argues that pleasure and pain belong firmly in their own corners, so that when one is not in pain, it means not that they are in pleasure.

My thoughts are here because I have been thinking about the beauty of melancholy. I have always felt that there is a beauty to it. Especially when it is within matters of the heart, and there isn't any fear of immediate physical danger.  Melancholy, to me has a lot in common with the sublime. In my mind's eye, melancholy often carries a sense of grandeur: one always make it out to be bigger than oneself——we often describe ourselves as being lost in it; overwhelmed by it; controlled by it; it sweeps us into moans which are pleasing to us in heavy ways. There's always a sense of unclarity like a fog to enc…

Pondering what to wear to school, I saw Chandra in her overalls and thought that was a great answer. Love this overalls; had a pair in khaki too, but it got awfully stained and I had to say farewell... I've had them forever...or almost forever -- so many memories. See my sweet and fun new necklace from An Astrid Endeavor. I love that it is not fixed into place and I can therefore play with it and wear it anyhow I wish. In the last photo, my new school bag - which I absolutely adore, sits on top of my head. I stumbled upon her in Marshalls for $24.99 ^_^


Knit Top and Canvas shoes - H&M Overalls - Gift  Necklace - An Astrid Endeavor Bracelet and Hair Piece - Mawusi  Bag - Marshalls
Have a beautiful weekend! -Jane

On Monday I went to bed ridiculously early. I do this sometimes when I am feeling  meh. Around midnight I woke up and couldn't sleep. As I listened to the loud traffic outside: which I actually like - my apartment being right next to the highway - I realized with a start that my paper proposals were due next week and that I was still uncertain what to  write about. Nor had I done any great research!

This threw me off balance so I started panicking. I got out of bed -- it would be impossible to sleep in that state of mind, even have a few new pimples to show for the stress. I had to make some changes. The first thing I did was to log off of Facebook so it's not always in my face - stalking is now postponed.  I also had to work out a way to minimize my obsession with Mawusi. You might be surprised how much time I spend on that little shop. Also, I got rid of my laundry. It had been sitting there for weeks.  Then I had to make sure everything was well organized, including my clo…

I hated not being able to use a student discount, or a free student pass when I graduated college. Then Grad school started and I thought there comes the student discounts, Woot! The funny thing is I'm yet to rake in my student privileges. I don't frequent museums as I had hoped to. I find myself a little too busy these days. When I do go to an exhibition, I tend to go to the Met, and shamelessly donate like a quarter or something (When I am rich, I promise to give back). Else I go on a free day - or as I like to call it Sardine Festival. A week ago, I went to the Neue Galerie with my good friend. It was her idea. Left to my own devices I will be home cowing about one thing or the other.

As the museum is now free on the first Friday of the month, there was a queue about two and a half blocks long! (I am not exaggerating) - understandable for the museum is tiny, and in my opinion expensive. The years waiting in line paid off when we finally saw their current exhibition of Germ…

Now on preview at the Stephen Sondhen Theatre is the new play The Trip to Bountifulby Horton Foote. Directed by Michael Wilson. The play is scheduled to open on April 23rd. I was watching a review of this play on NY1 during the past weekend and felt a curiosity to see Cicely Tyson on Broadway. It is quite a story that she wanted to come back to Broadway in a good play before she called it quit.

The stage for this performance is ingeniously done. The setting is Houston, then Harrison, then 'Bountiful'——all in Texas.  I went to the play without any expectation but the curiosity to see Tyson. The only place I have ever paid any mind to Vanessa Williams is in Ugly Betty,  where I loved to despise her. Here she is Jessie Mae, a bossy and self-centered wife. Still playing the heartless lady, though somewhat diluted, she nags and nags like a female dog and treats her mother-in-law (Tyson) without any respect. My friend thought that she played the role very naturally. And yet, I was …

Written by Rick Elice and directed by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Star Catcher is the most hilarious play I have yet seen. They are terming it 'a grown up prequel' to Peter Pan and it is true, especially since it is full of naughty puns. The cast, fully grown men and a woman who act in really childish ways that get  you laughing until the tears come.
Everyone was laughing. After the first act, I thought the second will simmer down and lose a bit of the witty comical exchanges, but no. It was even more funnier. What I love most about this play is the clever ways in which the cast sometimes become props. I don't know how they make it work, but it works very well. As characters they are in your face in an exaggerated dramatical way. Think of men wearing mermaid suits with certain round, or not so round kitchen utensils stuck to their chests. There are muscles and hair and it should be gross, but is just so funny.

I suppose one could bring the children. There w…

A little about yourself I'm Astrid and I live in San Francisco, California near the beach in a national park. I love living in a part of the city where I am surrounded by nature, and only a stone thrown away from everything San Francisco has to offer.

I've always been crafty and I come from a long line of makers and creators. My mom surrounded us, much as I do today, with all the supplies one could ever need to make just about anything. That instilled in me a "can do" attitude and helped fuel my creative desires. If at a young age, I needed something for my dollhouse, well then, I just made it. As a teenager, when I wanted a new outfit or saw something in a fashion magazine beyond my adolescent reach, I consulted my mom, and we made it happen. I became interested in jewelry, much like any little girl might- peering into the jewelry box my mother had and dreaming of the day when I could wear such treasures.


What is your Craft story?  Little kids emulate their parents, so…