BellaCelestina

About Me

As my two children (18 girl, 21 boy) remind me on just about a daily basis, I’m older than dirt (at 52). Along with my husband and the 2 aforementioned kids, we live in a chaotic household the holds 3 dogs and 3 cats, all of whom were rescued from one location or another.

I work in all sorts of paper, fiber, jewelry, and fabric crafts - earrings, cards, tags, collages, felt embellishments, crocheted items. I pay special attention to all the small details of the items I make, and particularly enjoy the process of packaging the items sold in my Etsy shop (BellaCelestina.etsy.com).

My craft stash is creeping throughout our home, rather like creative kudzu. Finding ways to both use and organize yarn, paper, beads, vintage fabric, and ribbon is an ongoing, albeit enjoyable, challenging :)

Crafts

The past couple of winters I’ve been immersed in crocheting – scarves and blankets, some dish cloths and small baskets. As I commute on the train every day for almost 90 minutes, my crochet hook, a skein or two of yarn and my iPod make it go by quickly. My crocheting inspiration is Lucy at Attic24 (http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/). Her blog is delight and her crocheted items are bursts of beautiful color.

I spent a few years working almost exclusively in paper – cards, gift tags, collages, altered books – and still do some paper crafts when the spirit moves me.

My beading phase came and went pretty quickly and now I’m left with a large supply of beads I’m hoping others can use.

Books

I started reading avidly in 4th grade with The Wizard of Oz, and haven’t stopped since.

• Favorite reads – mysteries, thrillers, science fiction

• I don’t read these – romance, fantasy, non-fiction

More of these would make me happy

• Colors – purples and blues, lavender and periwinkle, lilac and cornflower, you get the idea :) Some greens (tending to the bluer shades) and pinks (shading toward purple or rose). Clear brilliant reds. Buttery yellows. Peachy oranges.

• Yarn! No 100% acrylics, although acrylic/cotton and acrylic/wool blends are fine. I itching to try any of the Noro yarns, particularly Silk Garden.

• Crochet hooks

• Crocheted items – potholders, baskets, bowls, necklaces, lace. No amigurumi, please. They creep me out.

• Chocolate

• Coffee – nothing flavored

• Tea – just plain black tea

• Artwork – paintings, drawings, altered books (not altered bottlecaps), watercolors

• Vintage fabric and lace

• Ribbon

• Vintage quilt pieces, portions of old quilts, even bits cut from quilts

• Handmade jewelry. My ears are pierced and I love dangly earrings.

• Old wooden spools and clothespins

None of these, please

• Anything smelling of smoke, even faintly. Just a whiff is enough for me to throw the offending item away.

• Speaking of smells, musty odors make me gag.

• Colors – bright yellows and oranges. Neon anything. Yellowish green. Greenish yellow.

• Ren Faire, faeries, elves, fantasy themed items

• Bumper stickers. Unless it’s the Darwin one of the fish with legs

• Religious items of any fashion

• ATCs, inchies, or Dotee Dolls.

• Scented items – candles, stationery, etc.

• Knickknacks or dust-collectors

• Cutsie things (Hello Kitty, Kawaii, cartoons, stuffed animals)

• Faux bois or any wood-grained items