I would have to say that I am in love with the beautiful magazines that are published through Stampington.

it is hard to choose a favorite, here is my typical routine… go to Starbucks and get a vanilla Latte, head over to Barnes and Noble and grab one of every isuue that Stampington has on the shelf, find a comfy chair and start flipping through the books. Then the process of elimination begins, They are all so good! Altered Couture, Where Women Create, Somereset life, Somerset Home, Apronolgy… I want all of them and there are so many more! I take home a few and practically memorize each page! I make notes, I get inspired, I call up my girlfriends…. ‘did you see…? ‘ ‘how beautiful was that?’….

When I met Deb Hodge (cover artist for the last issue of Haute Handbags) she told me to send photos of my shop to Beth Livesay  the editor for Altered Couture and 5 other magazines, I was excited and hopeful, Deb so kindly sent a personal note to Beth along with my photos, when I found out Beth was coming to visit, I was over the top beyond words excited x’s 10!

In my 20 years in business I have created and tried my hand at just about, everything, except altered couture. I love fashion and have faithfully watched project runway, all the time saying to myself, ‘oh if I could only sew….. I could rock the runway! Some of my ultra talentd friends and artist had been asking me to change one of the rooms in my shop into a boutique, so they could sell their wonderful handmade clothing and accessories. With the new year coming I agreed that this was a time for a change, and time to try something new, so I set to work, with the help of my Dad, building new fixutures (all from recycled materials) and my Mom helping me sew(with a broken arm) I made skirts, shoes, dresses and scarves for my new alterd couture boutique. Lisa Loria, Deb Hodge, Rachel Luna, Linda Wattles Rita Reade, Laina Schectman Claire Comensky and Erin Barr all created and brought wonderful jewelry, clothing handbags, jeans, gloves and shoes too!

This is Beth! What a Darling girl! Can you imagine the work involved in editing six magazines.. I should say Super Girl! Beth took home several boxes of clothes and shoes to be considered for publication! All of us at Out of the blue and The Mermaids Mercantile are very very excited and thankful and now we are all addicted to altering clothes! You can find out more about Beth and Atered Couture on her blog http://coutureovercoffee.blogspot.com/

While I was changing up my shop, I also finally took action on somthing that my customers have been requesting for a long time! Craft/creative classes! This is our new classroom! My Dad built the table and the light fixtures! Lisa Loria decorated it! Our 1st class will be taught by Rita Reade, soldered jewelry making! http://mammabellearte.blogspot.com/ We have lots of classes coming up, to name a few… seashell covered letters, needle felting, altered shoes, fingerless gloves, jewelry making, paper crafts and so so so much more. Watch for our email announcement. If you are not on our email list you can sign up at http://www.seasellsseashells.com/ Thanks for stopping by and happy 2010! sincerely,

Debi