Oh Mr. T tell me what to do.

So I'm headed to Vegas today. I am starting to question my packing skills. Do I have enough convention clothes? My friend Traci is taking to me to Ghost Bar and Rain, do I have something sassy enough packed? Vickie is having some party at the Venetian, do I pack a prom dress? Did I make enough press kits? Oh Mr. T tell me what to do. Don't fail me now with your profound wisdom and advice just when I need you the most.

What is a naked lady party you ask?

Last night was the 4th annual clothes swap / naked lady party. What is a naked lady party you ask? Well here is what you do.

Invite all your close girlfriends or at least the ones with good clothing and tell everyone to bring their “goodwill” pile. We had clothing, shoes, jewelry, purses, mouth wash, make-up – you name it.

Separate the clothing into piles of small, medium, large and accessories and such.

Everyone draws a number and in groups of 3 you get to dive in and start grabbing. The groups only get to sort for 3 minutes and can take 5 items at a time.

You go through this 2 or 3 times then you have a free for all.

After everyone has what they want you bag up what is left (I bet we had 20 trash bags) and the next day when the head ache goes away you drive it to a donation center for Goodwill or your favorite charity.

I had so much fun last night, and since I am leaving for Vegas tomorrow for a weekish it was good to see my friends. When you have 20+ ladies dancing around your living room in your sunglasses collection doing the limbo to Harry Bellefonte at midnight I think that means your party was a success.

I wonder where you were when you sent me this beauty

My husband just sent me this giggly picture in an email with the title of "I wonder where you were when you sent me this beauty.". I sent it with my phone last summer when I went on a road trip with parents to see my grandmother in Illinois. I got this awesome little vintage souvenir hat in Oklahoma, but it says Florida and has the hilarious little plastic alligator on the top. I had a tiki style lamp I got at a flea market in Los Angles that needed a shade at the time. Actually it already had a little vintage children’s hat on it as a shade with felt fish, but I thought this would make a nice replacement. In the end this hat has never made it onto the lamp, the other hat is still there, but I still think it is funny and it only cost a quarter.

Win a free Bracelet!

I almost forgot to mention that Naughty Secretary Club is the contest of the month on the Austin Craft Mafia site.

Would you like your very own Black Beehive Bracelet? Well you can get one here or try to win one here.

Ok gotta go bake shrinky dinks before I go to the gym.

Tijuana Unicorns

On my long drive home from Dallas yesterday my sister was kind of enough to call me and chat to help pass the time. She was telling me about all these dresses she painted for a fashion show in NYC that she is trying to get in to and I asked her to send me pictures of what she submitted. Hot dog was there some cute stuff on the page. There were also these boots that she painted that I am completely in love with and have decided I must have for at least one night out on the town. Seriously do these boots not just make you want to squeal with delight. Tijuana unicorns she calls them.

Conor can stay in Nebraska and feel sorry for himself

Bright Eyes is one of those bands I never got into. I always thought Conor Oberst had a mediocre voice at best and could never quite figure out what all the fuss was about. Now there was the exception of Commander Venus with dudes from Cursive and The Faint, but I digress. Conor put the nails in his coffin with me when at my parents house yesterday I read their issue of Texas Monthly and the Bum Steer Awards. It's kind of like faux awards the magazine gives out to people like Jessica Simpson for thinking tuna is chicken and to the city of San Marcos who's zip is 78666 for trying to change it for fear of demonic possession. Anyway Conor got one for something he said on stage at a concert in Fort Worth this past year:

"I don't know if you know this, but I hate your (expletive) state. I'd put an (expletive) gun to my head before I'd live in your state."

I for one won't be buying his records and Saddle Creek should put him on a tighter leash. Texans have an insane amount of pride about their state. Maybe it is the whole we wanted to be our own country and the Alamo thing. It does not seem like a super wise move to go to a state, play a concert and tell the crowd that you would rather off yourself than live where they all call home. I don't care if he said it about Texas, Wyoming or New York. Don't assume because the president is from Texas that we all share his beliefs and values. I am assuming that was his half baked rationale with that statement. If you hate Texas so bad then I hope I never hear about you playing to sold out crowds in Austin, one of the most liberal cities in the country. Don't come back for SXSW, Texas does not want you. Next time ACL calls you better remember the state the festival is in.

Connor can stay in Nebraska and feel sorry for himself, we don't want his whiney ass here anyway.

See I told you there was a weird state pride thing.

Two things I really hate when I go to antique malls are as follows.

Two things I really hate when I go to antique malls are as follows.

1) When the antique mall has a bunch of reproduction costume jewelry mixed in with the real vintage stuff and not marked as reproduction. Makes me just not trust the people.

2) when every other booth is country crafts with wooden geese and lots of hot pink tulle. I thought this was an antique mall not a craft mall.

Anyway I went to one of those antique malls in Arlington yesterday. The one good thing in the mall was this awesome vintage sanitary napkin dispenser from the 60's that was pink. It even had a vintage pad in the front. It would have looked so sweet in my bathroom, but alas it was $850. Are you kidding me. The white one in this picture is not a fraction as cute, but it was the only example I could find.

Oh and it is sugar cake flavor!

Feast your eyes on Naughty Secretary Club lip balm. There is this awesome company called Bag Lunch that made them for me (here is their blog, read the story on Johnny Cupcakes it really sucks). They even made my awesome new soft serve ice cream cone blog back ground. I think I might be in love with them and all their cool stuff. The lip balm is for friends and peeps that look really important at my convention in Las Vegas. Oh and it is sugar cake flavor!

All my dreams of perfect bedroom coordination can come true.

I am a very happy girl today. I scored the Barkcloth I was bidding on from EBAY. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. The curtains in my bedroom are this material and I need a matching bed spread. All my dreams of perfect bedroom coordination can come true. Now I need to find someone to sew the bedspread for me. My sister took back her sewing machine so I can't do it myself. Once this is made and my collection of vintage Hawaiian souvenir pillows is complete I can sleep in peace.

Here is my life in quick and easy blurbs.

Jasmine brought her new puppy Trixie over to my house yesterday. This is the wee little pug with my big part mastiff dog Lucy. They were smitten on each other. Here they are having a grand old time. Jasmine usually works at the dining room table so she bought little kid gates for the two entrances in so Trixie can frolic and play, she actually just wanted to sleep in her little bed. Adorable!

Yesterday I added new NOUVEAU NECKLACES, REVAMPED VINTAGE EARRINGS and NOUVEAU RINGS to Naughty Secretary Club, be sure to check it out!

Let’s see here is my life in quick and easy blurbs: My personal trainer is quitting the gym so I have to get a new one, I am going to McKinney/Arlington tomorrow to visit my parents and attend a baby shower, I am having lunch today with a co-worker from when I was actually a secretary who I have not see in forever, I watched DeLovely last night and it sucked and I am bidding on some Barkcloth on EBAY. That’s it in a nut shell.

Have you signed up for the DIY Network yet?

My friend Melynda Lotven of Just Gourds sent me a link to an article in the Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune about her that mentioned Craft Lab. This is a picture of she and I on the set.

"But make no mistake, she’s serious about her artwork. And she’s managed to establish herself to a degree most artists would envy. She’s been a member and now board member of the Best of Missouri Hands for years, and her ornaments have been included in the Governor’s Mansion. She’s done many shows around the country and late last year was featured on Home & Garden Television. Sometime probably this spring she’ll be on the show "Craft Lab" hosted by Jennifer Perkins on the DIY TV network. Particularly when the holiday season comes, she has a hard time producing enough work to meet the demand of her customers. She’s established."

Actually Craft Lab is not set to air this spring, but Stylelicious is. I got a tid bit of gossip about the show, word on the street is that Craft Lab will begin airing in October. Have you signed up for the DIY Network yet?

helping me judge which blue jeans looked best on my toosh

Yesterday I ran over to the book store to see if the new issue of Knit 1 Magazine was out, but no dice. I did however find some pages on the Knit 1 web site where they used Naughty Secretary Club jewelry. Check out the Nouveau Earrings and Revamped Vintage Rings on this lovely lady.

Speaking of the web site did you know that new Watches and new Change Purses have been added. It's true, I'm not lying. I have so much new stuff I need to add to the site. A BIG box of new vintage jewelry goodies came in the mail yesterday and I sat all evening like a kid in a candy store racing around my studio putting new things together. I'll try to get them on the site pronto.

I would also like to thank Vickie and the lovely ladies of Therapy for helping me judge which blue jeans looked best on my toosh this afternoon.

My mom said it looks like Miami Vice and my sister said it is very Santa Fe.

So what better way to start off Monday morning than with the unveiling of my new paint job. This is the walk way to the front door. Keep in mind the forest green storm door is going bye bye and a new and exciting red reproduction 1950’s screen door is going in it’s place. I just need to order it.

I told you the house was pretty bright. My mom said it looks like Miami Vice and my sister said it is very Santa Fe. Neither of which were meant as compliments I can assure you. I like it and it matches all the bright colored walls inside the house. I will never be able to resell it now with these colors, but oh well.

Yesterday I sat and put together orders ALL DAY. Got tons done. I also listened to several Crafty Chica Pod Casts. These are so cute. I learned about everything from crafty cinema to a new show on DIY called Creative Juices. Super informative.

The tackiest deer lamp you have ever seen

Yesterday I went to the city wide garage sale and got these really cool little faux dentures for $3. They are going to be awesome in my bathroom. I also got a little 40's dress, felt souvenir jacket from Mexico, 50's peach colored pillow with a leopard skin applique of a horse and the tackiest deer lamp you have ever seen. Actual photographs of stags in the woods with a bulb behind it.

Why is neighborhoodies broken? I need to get my father in law a Naughty Secretary Club sweat shirt and myself an Austin Craft Mafia shirt.

Crafters Coast to Coast

Hey my episode of Crafters Coast to Coast (or That's Clever) was on today and I didn't even realize it. I made a resin necklace of my dog Lucy.

Funny every time the episode airs I get more emails about my house than I do the necklace. Which is fine by me, I put a lot of work into my casa. Wanna see more pictures? Check out the profile on Pussy Cat Magazine. I promise to post pictures of the new paint job on the house pronto. Just know that it is red, yellow and aqua.

Another Top 10 in the Austin Chronicle!

Top 10 Artists by Body of Work in 2005

1) Bale Creek Allen (D Berman Gallery)

2) Jonathan Marshall (Art Palace)

3) Sterling Allen (Austin Museum of Art, Gallery Lombardi, Art Palace)

4) Jill Thrasher (Slugfest)

5) Alejandra Almuelle (ArtAmici, Gallery Lombardi)

6) Bonnie Gammill (East Austin Studio Tour, Gallery Lombardi)

7) Ray Donley (F8 Gallery)

8) Christopher Fitzgerald (Diaz Gallery)

9) Hope Perkins (Hot Pink Pistol)

10) Julie Speed (Flatbed Press)

Man my sister is awesome, and ya she painted all 4 dresses.

I got my eyebrows and upper lip threaded.

So last night when driving back from my Stitch meeting I was listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s on a CD my friend Jasmine made for me. The song was “Y Control”. I kept listening to the beginning of the song over and over because it sounded so familiar and I could not figure out from where. When I got home I dusted off my Big Black The Rich Man’s eight Tack Tape CD and listened to “Passing Complexion”. That’s it by God. The intro to the two songs is as alike to me as the start of Madonna’s “Hung Up” and Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For”. Good thing I solved that mystery, I even added “Passing Complexion” as my My Space song.

Yesterday I had a new experience, I got my eyebrows and upper lip threaded. It’s like an Indian form of waxing using dental floss. It was pretty awesome and really didn’t hurt that bad at all. Not to mention I am in love with my eyebrows, they have never looked better. If you live in Austin seriously go get threaded at Tara Salon.

Oh and you should check out this new and exciting shopping blog called Sharp Lilly. They were nice enough to review Naughty Secretary Club!

Speaking of Naughty Secretary Club I snuck in some funny little pins yesterday.

In my opinion Elle Girl and Teen Vogue are the best fashion magazines out there.

The Feb 2006 issue if Elle Girl came in yesterday’s mail, no wonder I have started selling the Hot Lips Necklace like hot cakes. Can ya see it here on this lovely little model? Actually she looks really young and vamped out in a Brooke Shields Blue Lagoon kind of way, but hey she makes my necklace look good. In the same spread you can see the little Lolita in a Kissy Brooch and some wee little lips earrings that I am sadly sold out of. You should pick up a copy. In my opinion Elle Girl and Teen Vogue are the best fashion magazines out there. They always have such super cute clothes.

So since I am still on my fitness kick, like everyone and their dog at the start of the new year, I had to go and get myself a fancy heart rate monitor yesterday. I am actually excited to go to the gym today so I can test this baby out. It will tell me what my heart rate is at all times and how many calories I am burning. Much more accurate than the read outs on the machines. I feel so sporty spice.

All Dressed Up and Shy

My friend Susann Keohane from All Dressed Up and Shy has a new blog you should totally check out.

Made a life decision this weekend that I am going to the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association Convention) in Las Vegas. Anyone else going?

Last night was full of disappointments.

There is a cute little place here in Austin called The Tree house Grill tucked away behind some trees on Congress. I always pictured this place to be quaint and yummy. I knew it was a little on the pricey side so we had never just popped in, but last night we had Christmas gift cards burning holes in our pockets. We get seated and have to wait 20 minutes to give our drink order, which by this point we gave our dinner order too. My white iceberg lettuce side salad came first and it was swimming in oil, which was their definition of “vinaigrette”. Our entrees came pretty promptly, but they could have just never come at all from the taste of them. I had the chicken picatta. My breast was still big and puffy, and chicken picatta is typically a very thin piece of meat. Picatta also is very lemony and this greasy sauce my gelatinous breast of chicken was sitting in was like browned garlic oil. There was some nice steamed veggies on the side, a little heavy on the bell peppers in the mix. There was also a side of spaghetti which had clearly been sitting under a heat lamp for a long time. Chris had Veal and was not that impressed with his either. Overall at $50 this place was so not worth it and I will not be returning.

So on to Broke Back Mountain. The best thing I can say is that the scenery is lovely. The movie was not awful, not even bad, but with all the hype I was thinking I was going to walk out of that theatre balling. However, I did not feel that emotionally attached to the characters at all and it has nothing to do with their sexuality. There is this 70’s movie called Same Time Next Year with Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn that is pretty much the same movie. A couple of cares about each other deeply, but each is already married so all they can do is have an affair once a year. They meet year after year for 20 years in this cabin and have sex and all that, but mostly just have this “deep and meaningful relationship”. I have a real issue with infidelity in relationships being glamorized in movies and in songs. Those people were married and had kids and were lying and being deceitful to their families. They should all 4, in both movies, just fess up get divorces and quit lying. I understand that Ennis and Jack could not be together due to the times they lived in and all of that, but Jack could have gotten a divorce. Sure I did get a little teary at the end of Broke Back with Ennis in his trailer. If memory serves Same Time Next Year ends the exact same way with one of the people going to their cabin and the other person is not there because they have died. It was not a bad movie, just not a holy crap this should get an Oscar movie. A movie of forbidden love two people having an affair and cheating on their spouses for 20 years is supposed to be romantic? I think if my husband had been cheating on me for 20 years with a man, woman or both I would not think it was very romantic or have any pity for him that he was not with the one great love of his life. I think maybe I should have seen Memoirs of a Geisha instead.

7) Stitch or anything including the Austin Craft Mafia

Top 10 Theme/Group Art Exhibitions of 2005 From the Austin Chronicle.
1) "Will There Ever Be a Rainbow?" (the unicorn art show) (Bolm Studios) Notice Hope's Lionel Richie Unicorn painting.

2) "Suspended Narratives" (Lora Reynolds Gallery)

3) "22 to Watch" (Austin Museum of Art)

4) Robyn O'Neil & Ludwig Schwarz, "Arthouse Texas Prize 2005" (Arthouse)

5) "Mulligan Stew" (Gallery Lombardi) Check out Hope's embroidered Snoop Dog Dress that was in the show oh and at the top of the page you can see the David Bowie Labyrinth Jacket she wore to the Unicorn show.

6) Anything curated by Mike Parsons: tattoo shops or Shiny Object

7) Stitch or anything including the Austin Craft Mafia HELLS YEAH! WHOO-HOO! Want another peekie at Hope and I's models from Stitch?

8) "Nest" (2040 Gallery)

9) Nate Nordstrom's Compound, First Thursdays in Aerosol Heaven

10) "A Clever Name for a Drawing Show" (Camp Fig)


Since I am gushing with pride about my younger sister Hope, did you see the new one of a kind hand painted purses by her that I added to Naughty Secretary Club yesterday. Move fast because there are about 3 I want to keep for myself.

Fruits II

Check out the Naughty Secretary Club Chunk-a-rella Necklace in Study Breaks Magazine. This is kind of a racy magazine, who knew.

I also got a link from a cool blog called Brown Seven Twelve that reviewed the Naughty Secretary Club Babette Bracelet. Whoo-hoo.

I added some Revamped Vintage Rings to the site yesterday. Keep your eyes peeled I am going to be adding new stuff to my site almost every day this week.

Hey did you see the new Sparkle Craft site? Like Wow! Go take a peekie at all of Tina's hard work.

My new Fruits Book came and I am so excited I can hardly stand it.

P.S. I bled orange for 8 minutes.

P.S. I have to admit instead of watching the Rose Bowl Game last night Chris and I watched “Ran” by Akira Kurosawa. However, when we got into bed we saw the last 8 minutes and Vince Young run that touchdown and I have to say it looked like a pretty awesome game. I didn’t go to UT, but I felt like one of those people with the stupid “I bleed orange stickers” for the whole 8 minutes.

even though it is just a “thing” I am heartbroken

So yesterday there was some good news and some bad news. The good news was my mom found this awesome place online called House Number Connection that sells house numbers. I promptly ordered myself a pair for my freshly painted house. Well, soon to be painted. I opted for “boomerang”. So the next quest is finding a cute porch light and then I am getting a screen door from Hip Haven. Finally the outside of my house will look half way decent.


The bad news is my favorite jacket is ruined. Last summer at a car show in Salina Kansas I found in the basement of an antique mall a reversible souvenir jacket from Japan. One side was green with tigers embroidered on it and the other side was blue with a picture of Japan. My mom was going to have all the threading taken out and the jacket put back together because it was so old the thread was rotten. The dry cleaners washed the jacket instead of dry cleaning it. My mom has not seen the jacket yet, it is still at the plant. I am sure it is ruined. And even though it is just a “thing” I am heartbroken I had looked for years for one of those jackets.

Tonight you should go to Emo’s, it’s free. I’ll be there to see The Arm and Camp X-Ray with Dave Morgan. Oh and you should also go check out the new Revamped Vintage Brooches and Revamped Vintage Bracelets I added to Naughty Secretary Club.

I forgot that album had a good song on it.

Weird. Yesterday after I talked about the Afghan Whigs and their song “Debonair” within the hour I am in the gym rolling around like an idiot on some big ball that is good for my core or something and over the gym speakers comes the same song. Odd coincidence if you ask me. They also played Hole’s “Celebrity Skin”. I forgot that album had a good song on it. Must have been the old rocker mix on the gym muzac.

Has a good 80’s metal Foreigner “Hot Blooded” type guitar hook that tickles my fancy.

I scored a copy of the February 06 issue of Teen Vogue this weekend. Check out the Naughty Secretary Club Sea Breeze Bracelets on page 144 and our True Love Earrings on page 147. In other news about the web site I also added some new Nouveau Bracelets yesterday plus restocked the Belt Buckle Bingo Necklaces. I have been out of a part for these babies for months that I guess I had on back order and mystically this weekend they arrived on my door step.

I went and saw Vickie’s new house yesterday which is super duper cute and close to me. Oh and I watched the premiere episode of Rollergirls on A&E. These are Austin gals ya know. However, I did not recognize any of these chicks and I thought I might. I have only been to see their competing league here in town. Austin sure looked pretty and I hope the show does well.

I downloaded some new songs. Ya see there is no “soundtrack” to 16 Candles that you can buy, so I downloaded random songs from the movie I didn’t have. I also went through a couple of “Best of 2005” lists and downloaded some suggestions. Here is what I think so far, oh and here is the shoe a week picture.

Thompson Twins “If You Were Here” This is the song at the end of the movie with Samantha and Jake sitting on the table over the cake.

Wham! “Young Guns” Holy Crap George Michael is rapping.

Nick Heyward “Whistle Down the Wind” Something about this song makes my heart hurt.

Kelly Clarkson “Since You Been Gone” Seriously, this is a good song. I could see any number of pop punk bands singing this same song. I think Ted Leo does a cover.

The Clientele “Since K Got Over Me” Reminds me of something out of England in the early 90’s Primal Scream days.

White Rose Movement “Love is a Number” If I didn’t know I would think I downloaded this one along with the 16 Candles soundtrack as some ditty at the school dance scene.

Art Brut “Good Weekend” I think I really like this and might get me some more.

Fiest “Inside and Out” Usually I love anything even slightly pertaining to R&B smooth jazz, but I can’t decide how I feel about this.

Stella Starr* “Love and Longing” Reminds me of Interpol. Is this guy really English or just trying to be. I still like it.

Living Things “Bom Bom Bom” Has a good 80’s metal Foreigner “Hot Blooded” type guitar hook that tickles my fancy.

The Exit “Don’t Push” I already heard the Futureheads “The Hounds of Love”. Hell maybe these guys were first. Sounds good either way.

Greg Dulli “Cigarettes” I am downright embarrassed that it has taken me this long to get his solo CD anyway. Remember the Afghan Whigs? No? Go download “Debonair” and “Retarded” by the band right now.

My Cyber Twin

Do you have a yahoo email account? Have you made your avatar yet? Chris and I made ours last night. Here I am in the office with my dog Lucy. It looks a lot like me I think for only having a very few select options to choose from. Add 20 pounds and a big tattoo and that could be my cyber twin. Oh and some new shoes, it upsets me how sandals were my only option.

Today is the end of my vacation. Sure has been nice sitting on my butt. Watched Sunset Blvd. yesterday and ate Garbanzo Bean salad on the porch in the sun. Those days are over, back to the jewelry grind. Made a bunch of new Revamped Vintage pieces I am going to add to the site this week so keep your eye balls peeled.

Also if you were at Aleem’s party on New Years Eve and saw the little punk that slashed Aaron Bush’s neck, please get in touch with Aaron or Emily. Aarron had to get several stitches and now they have a large medical bill to pay so they need witnesses to press charges. We want this knife wielding kid in jail and not at our next party.

Jem is truly outrageous.

I had a little bit too much fun on Friday night so Chris and I spent New Years Eve at home watching Satisfaction. Have you seen this movie? It has Justine Bateman, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson and some other no namers all playing a really bad rock cover band. It was all I could do to not fall off the couch when watching Justine Bateman stomp around on stage with a cowbell. It was like they told her to mimic Joan Jett and she did a really bad job. Poor Mallory.

Anyway the thing I think is interesting is the blonde girl who plays the druggie guitar player, she has a history. Britta Phillips is her name and you might know her as the voice of a way better band, Jem. That’s right Britta is truly outrageous as the voice of Jem, the lead singer of the holograms and nemesis to the Misfits. Britta went on to play guitar with Ben Lee and is now in the band Luna. You can always count on me for useless musical trivia.

Oh and don’t worry about me missing out on all of last nights festivities, I’m going to a tamale party this afternoon. Be sure to eat a tamale and some black eyed peas for luck today.