Saturday, March 26, 2011

Kickin' Back - Design for Leisure at the Philadelphia Art Alliance



The other day I finally has the opportunity to visit the show Kickin' Back - Design for Leisure at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in Rittenhouse Square where Cutesy but not Cutesy was amongst some of the finest designers in the Philadelphia area. It's so nice to be in such good company in our very own home city!

Fabric Horse makes some of the most awesome bags we've seen throughout our travels and they're based right here in Philly! We've run into them a couple of times at various craft shows but finally met them out in San Francisco for the Renegade Holiday Show. We laughed at the irony of both being from Philadelphia and finally meeting on the west coast!


These wooden toys also caught our eye by Holgate Toys based out of Pennsylvania. They've been in business since 1789 which is incredibly mind-blowing. It's hard for me to resist any vintage looking toys these days and I just fell in love with these instantly. It took me a while to wrap my brain around sharing a gallery space with a company that has been around that long!


And here's a peek at the monster display! They had the wall directly across from the entrance and staircase so their bright colors were immediate eye-catchers!




Thanks, Philadelphia, for inviting us to take part in yet another amazing show!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Adventures around the globe



For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to travel the world. It's always been a dream of mine to travel to every state in the country and slowly but surely I'm marking them off of the list. Cutesy but not Cutesy has taken me to states across the country I'd never thought I'd have the chance to go to. Whether it be just traveling through as a weary driver or for a few days stay for a craft show, meeting new people and seeing new places are what keep me and my business going. One of the many reasons I had for starting the company was to have the opportunity to have small pieces of me travel all around the globe to places I may never have the chance to visit myself. The monsters are extensions of myself that get to go on small adventures of their own and tell their own stories to people I may never meet. I can assure you all that my adventures with the monsters are not slowing down any time soon with a few new states to mark off the list already coming up in the near future. We like traveling, we like meeting new people, and seeing new places and nothing can keep us from following our curious minds and passionate hearts.

With all of that being said, I started to grow a little jealous of the monsters' international adventures without me, so this time it was my turn. The monsters helped me pack my bags and sent me on my way on an adventure of my very own. One of the amazing things about working so hard during the year making monsters is being able to send myself on an incredible vacation knowing that all of my hard work really has paid off. I recently returned from a whirlwind trip from Costa Rica! As far as I know, none of my monsters live there or have ever been there but at least I was able to go and see it for myself. It was a warm break from the cold weather here in the Northeast and a much needed relaxing trip before the Spring/Summer busy season starts up again. I've had the amazing opportunity of traveling all around the world but Central America is somewhere that I have never been. It was absolutely beautiful and just what the doctor(s) probably would have ordered had I told anyone I was going. It was a bit of a last minute trip and I don't think we even had our plane tickets until only 48 hours before we were supposed to fly out of the country, but well worth the last minute planning stress.

Now, as we recharge here in the monster warehouse for some more monster making madness to come, here are some pictures from my adventures in Costa Rica! Enjoy!