Hurray!

When I was 12 years old I had a little room in my basement where I "sold" beaded jewelry and other handmade creations.  It has always been my dream to have a store.  Well now

I finally have one!  It is housed in a quaint little shed in the garden of a restaurant called Emilia's at 479 Perry St. in West Cape May where I am selling jewelry and handmade creations once again.  I opened on Memorial Day weekend and have been busy being a shopkeeper since then.  I also offer Walk-In Arts and Crafts for children and adults and Art and Story Time for young children on Saturdays at 9:00 - I connect the story, the art project, and my outfit, all around the same theme.  It is everything that I have always wanted to do and now I will spend the summer finding out if it is really what I want to do.  Only time and experience will tell.

Especially for the birds.

Its that time of year.  Out with the old and in with the new.  Spring cleaning.  New beginnings.  Nesting.  Creating.

I have been collecting scraps of thread, yarn and fabric all winter long and saving them in this suet container.  It is a wonderful wad of color.   The birds will pluck from it to make their nests and I will be watching and waiting.  Watching and waiting for spring.  The colors will appear in their nests and I will have become a part of their lives.

Good morning.

 

In the morning, I find myself, over and over again - or maybe I find myself anew.  Maybe, each day, I am a different person, just born out of sleep and dreams.  I never tire of the mornings, even when I am tired.  Sleep does not come easily for me but mornings do.  Possibility is alive and percolating, like a morning cup of coffee.  Dark and rich and hot - until the sun rises.  I am usually awake then.  It is rare that the sun rises before I do.  Afterwards, I can sometimes go back to sleep.  I have witnessed the dawn of another day and am content.  I made it this far….

Thinking Spring!

Though the temperature today is only in the 20's in Cape May, it's already spring at the dollar store.  I went in this morning to stock up on some glue sticks and saw these bright and cheery place mats - well obviously, I couldn't resist.  I guess that is what is referred to as an "impulse purchase."  At least it only cost me $4.00.  When I got home, I realized that I already had some orange place mats.  So I decided to make the old ones into a laptop case and call it an "impulse craft." At least that was free!

 

 

Something fishy...

I made this today.  It started out as an idea for a mobile with some chimes, but after playing with lots of different materials and ideas I settled on this.  I love the process of discovering what I am going to make and how it takes me by surprise sometimes.  I found the fish barbecue rack at my thrift store, brought it home and just started attaching metal things to it.  Only certain pieces worked.  There are keys, single earrings, random hardware, a tin whistle and a jingle bell. This is not a haphazard arrangement - it is a very deliberate one, but I love that it looks like it just washed up on the beach as it is, all weathered and messy.  It was fun to use things from my stash that I have had for years - I finally figured out why I have been saving them.   The creative process is so satisfying - it nourishes my soul.  I laughed when I finished it.  I think I'll have fish for dinner to celebrate!

Deconstruction and Reconstruction

Used to be:  a man's size XL shirt.

Now:  Cup cozie, dog collarette, and skirt.

Voila!

Article in the Press of Atlantic City!

Posted: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 8:31 am, Wed Jan 9, 2013.

By Michelle Post

Penelope Cake, of Cape May, once danced “Red Checked Life” in an empty storefront in New York City’s garment district.
She decorated the window and store in everything red-and-white checked. Then she danced, “of course dressed in red-and-white checked clothing,” she said. It was all visible to passersby.
“It was one of those great (city) things where you don't know if what is going on is real life or art,” Cake said.
Cake, 56, moved to Cape May about a year ago after a 35-year career as an artist and dancer in New York. She is the volunteer artist-in-residence at VIMspirations, the new thrift shop benefitting Volunteers in Medicine of Cape May County, at 600 Park Blvd., West Cape May.
At the shop, Cake gives impromptu craft lessons using donated materials. She can tell you how to make new clothing from donated apparel.
“You can take the sleeves from one sweater, and put them on another,” she said as an example, while teaching this reporter to make an origami gift box from recycled holiday cards.
Her art is based on upcycling — using materials that might be thrown away to make something of value. She makes jewelry out of hardware and game pieces, art journals and boxes from books, collages from varied items, and knits and crochets using yarn made from T-shirts and plastic bags.

“My goal is to encourage people to be creative, especially through the reuse of things that might otherwise end up in a landfill,” she said.