I planned on walking the majority of the Starved Rock Trail on day two of my Utica excursion, but the majority was closed due to fallen trees and storm damage in mid-July. Even the Starved Rock Lodge had a tree fall in per one resident. Basically the entire stretch of the park trail was closed, […]
Author Archives: MarvyMaike
In mid-July I took an excursion to Utica to clear my head and ground myself in nature. My favorite park in the Starved Rock Area is Matthiessen State Park. For a while it was a well-kept secret, with most tourists favoring Starved Rock Park. Unfortunately (for me) it has gotten more popular over the years, […]
Last weekend I decided to be an attendee at Aurora Rose Boutique‘s Trunk Show instead of the vendor. I’ve admired A&Z Designs’ jewelry for a while. Their steampunk-y pieces are custom formed, riveted, enameled and bent. It was nice to meet the family of creators, and I debated over a few pieces as I browsed […]
Last month I pondered what I can make that appeals to men and women, since my jewelry does have a slight gender bias. So I started making some keychains. I put some coiled wax pieces on a keychain loop, which wandered off with customers at Aurora Rose during my last trunk show. I also put […]
Before my 3-day escape last week I did a photoshoot for Etsy. This week I loaded more inventory onto the shop, as I explore other venues to display and sell my work. Draw was inspired by the fabulous pencil handler Lauren Levato-Coyne. She taught me how to draw, and her friendship has drawn me into […]
I’m working on my hiking posts but spent the weekend partying so those will have to wait. My friends Lauren and Rory celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary and several other special days with Sugarweek, and us friends were invited to tag along on their celebrations. Friday evening marked the opening of a show at Zhou […]
Last week I took a road trip to Utica to satisfy my July travel itch. It is just 2 and a half hours from home, an easy drive actually when you skip rush hour. I had visited the Starved Rock area a few times, and gradually upgraded my stays from a KOA cabin with plastic […]
I took a little road trip this week to clear my head. It’s nice to do a re-set when home and internal changes are churning. The good news is that you get to call dibs on the pieces on Facebook through the weekend. Next week they’ll be up on Etsy for a wider audience to […]
Normally this time of the year I have plenty of butterfly snapshots, but they’ve been scarce thus far. I am pleased to see monarchs fluttering about, the cabbage whites are becoming more visible, and I’ve spotted a few admirals, but not as plentiful as seasons past. Those I do see are either too fast or […]
Last Wednesday we had a lovely time de-stressing at Hub83 in South Barrington. Hub83 is a co-working space where start-ups, entrepreneurs, freelancers, telecommuters, and small or previously home-based businesses can work in a collaborative office space and get access to resources that can help grow their business. The company provides commercial shared office space which […]
