My name is Shelley and I am the only hooligan behind Hooligan Alley. I began my love affair with thimbles when a friend said she was looking for a thimble necklace. I bought a nice one in an Auction lot and made a necklace for her. She was thrilled. So I began to look into thimbles and all the lore and romance connected with them and found that there was a great deal to learn. I bought books on collecting antique thimbles and a copy of Peter Pan. I did a good deal of research and began writing and re-writing my thimble history romance story. I perfected my jewelry making skills with the help of a friend who has been doing this for more than 10 years. I have been through a good deal of trial and error and learned a great deal from my mistakes. I listen to my customers and some of my very best ideas have come (with permission) from requests my customers have made. I purchased table top power tools that impressed even my engineer/geek husband. And what is more, I actually learned to use them! I buy my thimbles from suppliers, auction, garage sales and estate sales and any where else I can get them.

I am a complete one woman show. From idea to completed product it is all in my hands. And as I have said in some of my listings, some of my ideas have come in dreams so I guess my brain is working even when I am sleeping! I share a small studio space with my best friend and we work, sometimes talking or watching old movies or listening to music or even in companionable silence.

My Shop Name
One summer day in 2011, my best friend and I were out exploring an old part of town neither of us was familiar with. We found an adorable residential alley named "Hooligan Alley" we literally squealed, delighted that such a wonderful place existed. We drove up and down the short alley, speculating as to how this street came to have that name, and wishing upon wish that we too could say Hooligan Alley when asked for our address! We imagined the looks on the faces of intake clerks and shop keepers. For months Hooligan Alley came up in conversation from time to time always with additional delighted speculation on our part. One afternoon, we just HAD to go back and find it again. Except we could not. We drove street by street over a grid in the entire part of the city. But no Hooligan Alley. So, whether Hooligan Alley was some sort of odd dual hallucination or maybe, like Brigadoon, appears only one day every hundred years, I don't know. But when it came time to name my shop, I knew there could be no other name.