tinymatchboxstudio

This is the hard part...talking about myself...I am a former corporate travel consultant and a closet artist / crafter / photographer / vintage lover coming out to the public and hoping for the best! My husband and I have antique, thrift store, estate/garage sale, junk store, and even dumpster shopped forever (20+ yrs)....we have gathered, sorted, refurbished, recycled, decorated, and enjoyed all things that have history and aged gracefully or not.

I have recently been working to grow my Etsy shop - Tiny Matchbox Studio - I seem to zone in on vintage handbags and brooches, however I have tons of other vintage things I am planning on listing. I have loved vintage clothes, handbags, and jewelry forever...in college I wore a $2 dress from the Animal Aid Thrift store to my upscale private university sorority pledge dance....I was a bit concerned since I didn't know the other girls very well but the amount of compliments I received was a really cool surprise! When my husband and I decided to get married, I had to borrow the $25 from him when I saw a vintage 60s wedding dress that I thought might work for my wedding dress - he gladly gave me the money and I bought the dress without him seeing it...stuffed in a grocery sack! My shop also has handmade items - like my tiny matchboxes filled with tiny goodies.

Since I had worked in the travel industry for approx 25+ years, I have quite a large collection of travel, hotel, airline, airplane ephemera and I just keep adding to it. That is why I have joined swap-bot because I love collecting post cards - especially the old motel cards with the cars parked outside and maybe a view of the pool in the parking lot...you know the kind.

I have one son and daughter-in-law along with one stepson with a fiance. Our sons are the same age - mid twenties and are we are very proud of them! My husband and my son (which is his stepson) are both named Patrick, so that has made for some interesting looks and comments from other people thru the years! We have been together (and married) since the boys were 4 yrs old.

The favorites that I have had for years are Phil Collins, Genesis, Police, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt - just to name a few. Then, I really like all the newer rock bands - songs on the radio now - as well as the ones thru the 80's and 90's too. I haven't kept up with country music, but I'm not a country music basher - just never seem to be around it.

Self-proclaimed "magazine-aholic" - but getting more depressed since they seem to becoming a thing of the past. My favorites until (they disappear) are Domino, Home Companion, Studio, Cloth Paper Scissors, and Where She Creates.

I have always had a fettish for paper and office supplies! I love to shop in scrapbooking stores - just, that I never have made a scrapbook or even one of the scrapbook type pages...I like to use the paper and embellishments and stickers to make other stuff. I love to play with glitter and also melting papers in UTEE...my sister turned me onto this cool process. Swap-Bot has been a great motivator giving me structure to attempt projects I have thought about creating but either never finished or started thru the years! My most recent attempts are working with felt - it definitely is more forgiving than creating with paper. I have also gone wild even more than before about fabric trims...velvet, sparkly, lacy,brocade, furry, any and all ribbons and trims!!

Photography has been one of my most favorites hobbies....I like to take pictures of architecture and buildings, motels and esp their signs, airplanes (old and new), and vintage cars...particularly the dash....don't know why that is! I grew up around cars all my life since my dad worked for a chevrolet dealership for a million years - we'll blame it on him :)

I tend to turn my head and take notice of anything with lots of color...I haven't ever been one to be satisified with "earthtones, beiges, etc"...they are pretty, but I just have to do the reds, raspberry, pinks, blues, teal, aqua, purples, oranges, yellows, lime green ....any of them from the pastels to the brightest...I could keep going and going.

My latest color cravings/pairings... teal, lavender, light aqua/pale pink, retro aqua/bright red; purple/yellow, black/white, crimson red/pale pink, copper/silver.

I am usually not a big fan of florals, but I love the floral bark cloth from the fifties of course it is pretty pricey. I do like the sixties' love bug daisy. I am crazy about all polka dots and I like stripes, plaids, and tiny prints like the Japanese kawaii prints with cupcakes, deers, pigs, lil girls, trees, cherries, and of course a kitty or two.

I love little toy airplanes; airplane charms; stuff from airlines; postcards that say Greetings from..; postcards with airplanes; vintage postcards with motels; tourist stuff from New York City; bellhops; and motel keys from anywhere.

I love Halloween stuff...like witches, black flowers, glittery vintage Halloween; charms, skeletons, eyeballs (my daughter-in-law is a 4th yr optometry student, so eyeball stuff is super cool for us to play with!), castles,ghosts, etc! I love cowboy/western kitsch/retro style and vintage American Indians too.

I love little charms of just about everything or anything...except maybe fish - don't like fish (incl seahorses and mermaids)! I love old jewelry...especially brooches and/or earrings. I love pens; paper; stickers; tiny rubber stamps. I love stuff with airstream trailers. I love handbags /purses / luggage /bags of anykind!

I love poodle stuff...esp pink poodle stuff; cute robot stuff; route 66 stuff...esp Oklahoma Rte 66 stuff.

I love pansies and gerberra daisies. I love Barbie clothes and shoes...esp older ones...not crazy bout the new stuff. I love pictures of women pilots; vintage pics/ads/magazines of women traveling...with luggage or bags :)

I love organizational stuff...dream of someday being able to be completely organized...of course, it is a dream! I love to receive fabric, ribbons, buttons, thread etc; vintage linens like the ones with embroidery or the funky patterns of the fifties and sixties; bright colored ladies vintage gloves; ephemera of any kind; always on the lookout with anything that has bellhops; brand new handtowels in bright colors; bright colored and funky patterned paper plates and napkins; colorful pens and pencils; all sizes of paint brushes; glitter; patterned tissue paper; colorful beads; and all sorts of tiny stuff!

He is one for lots of big projects thru the years... the ongoing project is refurbishing his Dad's 1953 Ford F-100 pickup...so he digs things with Ford from that era. He also collects petrol/gas station stuff...especially likes Texaco, Amoco/Standard Oil, Phillips 66, along with Oklahoma or Illinois based oil/gas companies like Gibble Gas and Martin Oil. He digs old state maps...of course he zones in on the ones with gas stations :)

He likes VW stuff...we have a VW Thing...another ongoing project! He is also into playing his electric guitar...big fan of Van Halen.

Things I'm not lovin....perfume and scents of any kind (very allergic)..that includes smelly candles,fabric softener, scented soaps, etc. Not lovin...much of any types of candy, coffee, wine and/or liquor. Not into stuff with fish, seahorses, or mermaids etc. ~ I know you are probably thinking way too much information for you!! :)