McFlashpants

2010-09-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Everything I make is available at
www.mcflashpants.etsy.com.

So dive in!

2010-09-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

This is my new life and my new farm.
It's gorgeous and huge, and open for visitors and artists.
We have three guest rooms, so please come, stay, and create something beautiful.

2010-06-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

The Kissing Fish Necklace ($275), now on at the NewNew's Treasure Chest on Governors Island, as mentioned in The New Yorker this week (check it out).

2010-05-09T08:18:00.001-07:00

More beautiful than rubies and emeralds. Happy happy happy Mother's Day.

2010-04-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

May 1st and 2nd, I'll be at the Brooklyn Lyceum.
227 4th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11215

Come on by and say hello, have some spectacular snacks, and shop among some of the most wonderful artists I've ever had the privilege to sit next to.

2010-04-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Coming soon, Twigsidermy. A new line of fancified and gussied up sticks, lichen, barks, nuts, and pinecones.

2010-01-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

2010-01-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

THIS
is
why
I
walk
to
the
P.O.

Can't ask for a better commute than this.

2009-11-12T05:23:00.001-08:00

Check out some of the shots from the Project Green Search photo shoot. I must say my jewelry looks much better on hanging on beautiful people than laying around on my kitchen table.

2009-11-05T05:09:00.000-08:00

A couple of shots from my new Fishy Fish Fish Series.
Part of the upcoming OCEAN OF ART show at The Artery in Milford, PA (210 Broad St). Running from November 13th to December 6th.

2009-10-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

A tree full of Living Jewelry has sprung up in Brooklyn!
So get on the L train and clamber on out to Williamsburg to Treehouse Brooklyn (430 Graham Avenue), where Siri will adorn you with piles of beautiful bling. I made off with one of her super hot crocheted necklaces (couldn't help it), and some old toilet paper rolls (also couldn't help it) for future ring boxes.

2009-09-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

The next generation of Living Jewelry---Ecosystems. A little river water, a little sand, a water plant, and a snail. Let's see what happens.

2009-08-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

So, what was gearing up to be a super mega crappola day actually turned out pretty good, in the grand scale of life. Let it be said that I never put much faith in the wide-eyed, pollyanna dimple-poking, always-look-on-the-sunny-side attitude. But I AM starting to learn how not to let myself fall under the wheels of my own moroseness (morosity? probably not a word, but I like it anyway), or dwell on the inevitability of jerks. So rather than walking around the house, muttering obscenities about my solopsistic neighbors, I went out, ate what counts as a bagel in upstate NY , and got myself a small spot at a new store--Willow and Brown in Livingston Manor, NY. It's slick and gleaming, and owned by somebody so very cool and stylish that I feel like a crocheted toilet paper cosie when standing next to her. But she likes my work, and that makes me feel pretty damned good, consarnit.

I also got a lovely mention on the Handmade Unique blog, as well as from the Girlie Girl Army AND Aardvark Silver. So, (eyelash flutter, hairlock twirl) it's been a good day after all.

2009-07-15T11:00:00.001-07:00

I'm very proud to announce that I am now a member of the ARTery in Milford PA. (210 Broad St)

You can find a case of my work there in the back. Some pieces included are:
My Funny Serpentine
Scrappy Sally
The entire Chauncey the Chafing Dish Series
and of course, Living Jewelry

You can visit the ARTery online at www.arteryonline.com

2009-06-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

Something to do with your utensils once you've switched to Stevia. This is a red jasper orb, tension fit into a pair of sugar tongs. Completely interchangeable with other orbs or marbles, but nearly impossible to dislodge by accident.

2009-06-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

Jack be nimble. Jack be quick. Jack cut up and wear your candlestick. Memorial Day tag sales are just the most marvelous things.

2009-05-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen!
The new puzzle pieces are here. There are six pieces available in a variety of combinations.

These little guys and gals are about 1" square, recycled sterling silver, available on a chain, a cotton cord, or--for those of you afraid of a little necklace--a keychain.

2009-05-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today, I made a hydrotumbler out of 2 soda bottles, 2 yogurt containers, 2 zip ties, 2 nails, and some pieces of an old banister. And it works. It freaking works!

2009-05-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

Like so many children, McFlashpants was conceived during the New York city blackout. Seriously.
When the power died, so did my artificial construct of reality: I had no food, no water, no money, no way to attain any, and no way to escape the situation. Let’s say it was a clarifying moment. I realized I had absolutely no idea how to take care of myself without my giant urban pacifier. So, I decided to make a change.

I moved to bucolic upstate New York, where I lose power almost daily, hardly ever see my friends, and am still afraid of the dark. But it’s better now. Now I get it. Now I’m tapped back into the cycle of life. And now, I can take care of myself without a deli across the street.

The learning curve was huge, but after five years upstate, I have begun to farm. I can grow and preserve my own food. I can raise chickens and tend goats. I can create the simplest of herbal remedies. I compost everything (even my son’s diapers). And I recycle to the point of obsessively ridiculous.

Which is where McFlashpants comes in. After all, I couldn’t give up every aspect of my lifestyle. And I wanted to keep making jewelry, just without the mining and the waste. So, McFlashpants is a collection of jewelry and small housewares made almost entirely from reused, renewed, repurposed, recycled, and reinvigorated materials.

The Eat With Your Hands series is devoted to breathing new life into unwanted silverware. The Living Jewelry line—composed of reused flatware and ginseng bottles—takes that idea one step further, by putting actual life into unwanted silverware.

I welcome all forms of feedback and revel in special orders. So please let loose.

2008-09-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

So, this needs a little explanation: On February 17th, 2008, I fell off my porch and nearly died.

More specifically, I leaned on my side porch’s rotten railing to dump some woodstove ashes in my garden, blissfully oblivious to the fact that the few remaining strands of wood fiber still connecting the railing to my house simply would not hold my weight. The fibers snapped, and down I went. Head first. Ten feet. And yes, it’s true: your life does flash before your eyes. Kind of. It’s more like a thousand thoughts scream out all at once in a giant Dagwood Thought Sandwich—And they cover the spectrum from “what have I done with my pitiful life” to “I need to shovel the walk” to “wow, this is a long way to fall, it’s really going to hurt when I…ow.”

I landed on my face and my sternum, I think, and at the time thought I had merely split my lip and broken a few ribs, possibly my nose. Bleeding, blinded, and making unearthly animal noises, I crawled back into the house to make sure the baby was OK (of all things). The mind does stupid things when it doesn’t want to face the truth. Not wanting to bother 911, I first called some friends down the road for help. After dialing my old number from college a few times, I started to think something might be really wrong and reassessed my desire to leave 911 in peace.

What I did was simple, really: I tore my liver in half, smashed my right kidney beyond recognition, and ripped a large hole in my hepatic duct. Normally, to achieve such high caliber injuries, one needs to crash a very fast car into a very hard building. What can I say? After fifteen years of underachieving, I finally started living up to my potential. Good timing, eh?

After spending three weeks in the ICU, undergoing six surgeries, drifting in and out of all flavors of hallucinations, apparently ripping out my respirator twice (once with my hands, once with my tongue), being quarantined, and missing both my son’s first birthday and first steps, I emerged from the hospital with a hefty case of morphine withdrawal, a heretofore unfelt appreciation for life and freedom, and a drain coming out of my belly. Affectionately known as the Pus Bomb, it was a squishy plastic grenade attached to a long plastic tube that ran all the way up under my diaphragm, but exited my body through a ¼ inch hole next to my belly button. Its purpose—to wick away all excess fluid, blood, pus, flotsam, jetsam, and various pieces of whatnot that may otherwise want to linger around my injuries and wreak havoc. Essentially, it was a one-way umbilical cord.

And here comes my point.
In no way to I believe that my survival was predestined, or that it just wasn’t my time, or that I was spared because I have yet to fulfill my destiny, or blah and blah and blah. I do however believe that I’ve been given a second chance. Prior to the accident, I wasn’t living my life very well. I was raging with inertia and self-pity, burning bridges, losing friends and family, and generally behaving like a jackass. One of the many my falling thoughts was, “I deserve this. Ow.” And I kind of did. So, I intend to take my survival seriously, give it the respect it deserves, and live well. Be grateful. Be, well, better, because I don’t want my next Dagwood sandwich thought to be, “I suck.”

Unfortunately, I sometimes slip back into my old habits and moods and need a little reminder. My Pus Bomb scar--aka Second Belly Button— fits the bill nicely, as it tends to ache and itch for no apparent reason. It’s my own personal scar tissue talisman. And it really helps me. So. For anybody who has ever wanted a metaphysical mulligan, but would rather not fall off a porch to get one, I have created a portable, removable Second Belly Button. It doesn’t ache or itch, but it is, mounted on a slice of the porch railing that both nearly took and saved my life.

All proceeds go to home repair.

2008-09-18T22:10:00.000-07:00