Twist!

Friday night we put on our hippest, coolest outfits, strapped Gus to my back and headed to the VIP reception at Twist to check out the incredibly talented crafters of the Valley and beyond.  We loved everything, got inspired by so many of the great ideas we saw, and made some amazing purchases. 

I (Jen) am apparently really into enamel jewelry these days, as I picked up a beautiful necklace from western Mass-based Donnabelle Designs that looks like this:

and hip earrings from DAMetals out of Providence that are similar to these rings:

I also started fantasizing about opening a center like Craftland, part-owned by Devienna from DAMetals and based in Providence, Rhode Island, in the Valley.  Craftland started as a craft show similar to Twist, and is now a center that hosts craft classes, a shop, and a gallery.  How cool would it be to have something like that in the Valley?  Add in studio space where anyone can come, spread out their stuff and craft with a bunch of other like-minded creative types (like Urban Craft Center) and it's crafting heaven.  Who's in?

Best of all, Twist totally inspired me to craft, as if I needed the inspiration!  Truly, being able to tell my husband that I need time to craft for my business is the funniest thing ever - crafting for work?  That's crazy cool.

My inspiration for today's new coaster comes from (who else) but Liz from Sticks and Bricks who did this design for a key hook.  It was so fun to use all those tiny colorful scraps that I have been collecting, and such an appropriate time of year, with all of the flowers just starting to show their faces!