huckleberry's Profile

Bio

◄VISIT ME!
http://catnipstudio.blogspot.com
http://vintagecatnip.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/catnipstudio/

◄MY ETSY I.D.s:
http://catnipstudio.etsy.com (handmade jewelry ),
http://catnipstudiotoo.etsy.com (handmade home and holiday decor),
http://huckleberry.etsy.com (artisan supplies and vintage treasures).

My Catnip Studio banner sets were done by http://skyfiregraphics.etsy.com .

I made my Huckleberry banner set from one of my own digital photographs and Adobe Photoshop.

◄MY ETSY TEAMS:

Cottage Style Street Team http://team.etsy.com/profilest/cottage.shtml Search "cssteam" "csst" or "cottage" for a glorious variety of chic cottage art and decor.

United Filigree Artisan's Guild http://team.etsy.com/profilest/filigree.shtml Search "filigree jewelry" for a stunning selection of original art jewelry.

Interior Design Team http://team.etsy.com/profilest/interiordesign.shtml
Search "designstyleguide" and "interiordesignteam" for home decor in all styles and themes.

◄BIO: I was that weird kid in kindergarten - the one that colored the sky all the way down to the grassline instead of that skinny strip of blue at the top of the paper.

I started drawing the world as soon as I could hold a crayon, and I now transfer that energy into creating pretty things from discarded artifacts, damaged goods, and vintage items that have seen brighter days. I'm not snobby about new materials-they get mixed in, too. Functional and/or decorative mosaic home decor from dishes and stained glass is my primary obsession, and this developed into broken china jewelry in the brass filigree style. I sandblast my designs into floor tiles for wall and garden art. I have never "scrapbooked" but use scrapbook and wrapping papers for decoupage ball and egg ornaments, and the occasional keeping box. I dabble in digital photography and creative image editing. I think about designs awake and asleep.

I was extraordinarily fortunate to have had a great grandmother, grandmother, and mother to teach me a multitude of handy skills such as embroidery, sewing, painting, drawing, color, design, cooking, gardening, recycling, crocheting, embellishing, and how to roll paper beads! Also, my great grandmother created and nourished my love of poetry, and my grandmother instilled in me an attention to detail in all things through her teachings of the natural world, birds, insects, and plants. My mother teaches me, still, and only when she's asked ;-).

My husband, my foundation and my love, is my biggest fan! When I'm unsure of my direction, he gives me encouragement. When I think, "no one will love this but me," he gives me praise. When I squeal with delight over a sale in my Etsy shop, he gives me funny looks.

I funded my clothing and shampoo purchases through elementary and high school with sales of my pen and ink drawings, acrylic paintings, and silkscreened t-shirts. While on active duty in the U.S. Navy, I did part-time paid and unpaid design work for flyers, murals, and handouts, advertising posters for a sports bar, and the occasional pencil drawing for my own enjoyment. Now that I am retired from service, I pursue an eclectic variety of art and craft mediums. I opened Catnip Studio on January 24, 2008. I chose Etsy because I appreciate their vision, respect, and promotion of quality handmade art, decor, durable goods, ephemera, and more. I also appreciate their support of the recycling and upcycling of vintage materials and collectibles.

Catnip? My husband planted a forest of it in our kitty courtyard, a fenced area around the catdoor that keeps our two dogs from annoying our two cats. For those of you with sensitivities, my studio is on the other side of our little acre, and is a pet-free zone. We are non-smokers.

Someday, I will return to where I began - pen and ink, pencil and paint. And crayons.

◄Bio addendum for Huckleberry Vintage & Supplies: My mother, sister, and I are voracious collectors of whatever strikes our fancies, and we've been collecting, collectively, for over 80 years. We have entirely too much stuff!

◄After 22 years of military service, my favorite quote: "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -George Eliot-

Female, Born on June 20

Favorite Materials

pottery, dishes, paint, metal, paper, glass, beads, textiles, fabric, vivid colors