Manic Trout in Justine Magazine!

I discovered tonight that Manic Trout is in the December/January issue of Justine Magazine! Woo Hoo! The little online preview of the issue showed the picture, which is hard to see, but will do until I go and buy the magazine.


I am also not quite sure which necklace it is, I think its a Brass Love Necklace, more on that later too, but woo hoo!

Where to Buy Manic Trout

I thought that as I do not have a shop list on the site, that I would post here the Brick and Mortar shops that carry Manic Trout so you can wander into a fabulous shop and ooh and ahh over all the pretty things. Of course, you can find everything I have at Manic Trout but there is something to be said about seeing stuff in person.

Illinois - Chicago
The Hawk & The Butterfly
10353 S Whipple

New York - Millbrook
Citrus
3280 Franklin Ave

Pennsylvania - E Stroudsberg
Liz Tech
95 Crystal Street

Tennesse - Knoxville
Styles Etc
2815 Rennoc Road

Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Anomaly Design Shop
816 East Brady Street

If you are a shop that would like to join this list, please visit the wholesale page. Thanks!

1 Month until Christmas and Bottle Caps

I just realized that in all of my prepping for the show next week and the getting ready for my wonderful customers for the holidays that I totally forgot about my own participation in christmas until I was at my moms yesterday. Holy cow its in one month! Well, I'll save the panic attacks for the week before and just get over myself.
Instead, I will share with you the handsome Zach modeling the re-envisioned bottle caps, now as pins! As everyone but me has the new fridge doors that are either stainless steel or covered with cabinetry, there are not many places to use magnets any more. So I have started making pins instead, you can stick them on a cork board, the wall, your bag, your clothes, or be ultra creative as Shireen was in my studio the other night when she had the brilliant idea to adorn Zachs collar with Bottle Caps!

Inspiration pans out

I finally have made the necklace that has been in my head for the past few months, the one that every time I watch Marie Antoinette (yes I play it in my studio quite often) I think of. Well, first I made this one, which I love...but was not quite there in terms of capturing the Rococco style of Versailles or having the sass and rock star quality of the queen herself


Although pink is obviously a color I adore, I did not want the necklace to have pink as a focal point, but rather as an accent


But I finally think I may have found what I was looking for...I wish the crystals were a bit more ivory in hue, but when its on a person, the creamy color of skin adds that hint of pale color


Maybe I should add a strand of blue...

Either way, both necklaces will at some point soon be available at Manic Trout.

The gift of time

I have received the best gift a girl could ask for...time! The restaurant is closed for three days this week and as I normally have Mondays off anyway...I have FOUR DAYS OFF! Which means so much time to prepare for the next month of holiday shopping, woo-hoo! I had a vision last night for a necklace that I am working on tonightm but I am taking a break to go and see American Gangster, as it seems I am the last person I know to see it. I also had to grocery shop today after I went out for lunch because as it turns out, I rely rather heavily on eating at work. So now I have time, to catch up on jewelry making, and prepare for the show Dec, 1st & 2nd, which I am really getting excited about!

Enough already!

OK, so I'll admit that I have not posted all week so that the WWD images would stay on top, can you really blame me? Its also been a very hectic week...I have been prepping fro the holidays endlessly, although I did realize last night that in all this prepping I have neglected to design anything new and this though kept me awake very late. I can never sleep when I have to wake up early anyway, and this morning two lovely ladies who own a very pretty shop came buy the studio to order pieces for the pre holiday shopping. I finally drifted off to sleep after realizing that I can design and make the new jewelry now and just not post it until a later date, so although you cannot have it now...at least you know its coming.

Two weeks from tomorrow I also have what I thought was just a little holiday shopping thing and has now turned into quite a big deal. Dec. 1st and 2nd from 10am - 5pm you can shop your heart out from Manic Trout, My Store and Tara Wing Photography along with a handful of others at the Holiday Art & Gift Show! It will be held at 7 Friendly Lane, Millbrook NY. Please contact me if you want more info!

Manic Trout Earrings in WWD!

I have such exciting news today, you can find Manic Trout in Womans Wear Daily!!!!!

A pair of The Sweetest Thing earrings are adorning the model for the Prom article, I am so happy I could cry!

The photo is even on the main page of the website today!!!!!

The road to less stuff and no walls

I have a lot of stuff. I have less stuff then I did when I lived in a big house with my ex husband and was planning on always having plenty of space, but then I rented a few big dumpsters before moving to an apartment and really purged, and it felt great! Well its been a little over two years in my apartment and although I have become much better about accumulating, the stuff has added up. Last winter when I had the flood, I tossed a great deal of useless things I had in my studio, that job always takes the most will power, I mean you can always use it for some project later, right? Well now I am facing another move in the kind of near future and I am already starting to edit my possessions for my new life. Honestly there are only so many toss out fests useless items can go though. Leading an artistic life definitely holds me back, not only with the studio, but I keep clothes I "could" paint in, and old towels that I may need to clean up in the studio with and many, many things that inspire me...well you get the picture.

Ok, now that I know I want to loose some dead weight, I just have to find my dream home. I dream of a very large, very industrial open loft where I can paint big and flick oil paint on the floor with out care and work until 3 and then can just go to bed in the same apartment, like I do now. Although my dream is that I can have my entire life lived in my studio, as I see it...I live in my studio now anyway, only leaving its walls to get food from the kitchen and bring it back, to sleep and to hang out in the living room for maybe 2 hours a week. I want my big comfy, cozy couches and books right by my desk, ok I may want the bed up off the studio, but you get the idea. The initial excitement of having a separate studio wore off fast when I thought of leaving it for home at 3 am by myself...so this is my dream...I have 7 months to find it.

The best soup in a can award!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'll let you in on a little secret, I have not cooked in over a year. I do eat at home, but only things I can make in under 5 minutes...well, when I say make, I make I mean pour cereal and soy milk in a bowl, or put pre cooked chicken in a wrap with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. So it has come as no surprise that as it got cold out I began looking for a miracle in a soup can. I was beyond shocked when I tasted Amy's Organic Soup. I even make a mean black bean soup myself, well once upon a time I did...before I lived alone, worked in a restaurant and was impressing Tyler with my kitchen appliances, so I am pretty picky about my black bean soup. Anyway, I have had a few different flavors and each has been the height of canned soup perfection...oh, and when I told Gilly about the greatest soup on earth, she said that Amy's Pizza is phenomenal...and Gilly is a chef, so she at least has well trained taste buds.

Date night and Sears

Mind you, we did not set out to go to Sears on date night, but we ended up finished with dinner with a solid 90 minutes until we saw Dan In Real Life which was excellent by the way. SO anyway I am so excited because I bought two sets of little shelves for my jewelry supplies (which are taking over my studio) and two new pairs of my favorite pliers! It was great, I almost wanted to skip the movie and go home and organize, but instead it was what got me out of bed early today. We all have an inner dork, I recommend you embrace it.

On a side note, am I the only person who LOVES daylight savings time? I am by nature a night owl and with it getting dark at 4:30, by the time I go to bed at 3 or 4, I have gotten a ton accomplished...well, not so much when I have to bartend that night, but whatever.

Holiday Shipping

The Holidays are fast approaching, that got your attention...and this actually geared to those who like myself, end up waiting until the last minute to order your gifts...then this is for you.

In order to receive your purchases by Monday December 24th via USPS priority mail you will need to place your order no later then Wednesday December 19th. If you order after December 19th (until the 22nd) your order will have a $20 rush fee and will be overnighted for $18. But please try not to do that to me.

Brooklyn, The Whitney and Sushi

I had a wonderful tour of Brooklyn this afternoon, thank you Jono! I'll let you know how my apartment hunt progresses, but I am planning a move around July I hope. There was one particular block of Guernsey street, by Norman in Greenpoint that I almost had to be dragged away from...there was something about that block...the facade drew me in. I then ate one of the best burgers I've had in years, at the DuMont in Williamsburg.

I then headed to the upper East side to meet Gilly...we went to the Whitney, my all time favorite museum and I saw an amazing exhibit of Danny Lyons, which I was super excited about! The photo above was my favorite. We then had superb sushi at Sushi of Gari on 78th (and 1st).

Now I am back home, oddly I enjoyed driving back into the peaceful beauty of the Hudson Valley. Even in the dark its beautiful, and there is no traffic. I am actually really looking forward to no longer having a car. I miss public transportation, I used to get so much reading done while being transported, and although, I do love my pretty little Audi, I could do without the hassle of car ownership...plus without car costs, I'll be able to rent a bigger studio!