It Happened Kinda Like This...

I'm one of those saps who believes that everything happens for a reason. I know it's not the intellectual thing to think, but it's something I have to do if I'm gonna get through this life. The choices I've made along the way have helped, too. I know. But some people are meant to be your friends and some things are just meant to be.


BEST was a glimmer that none of us could put our fingers on. The organization it would take to form a street team was daunting and the timing was bad. I'm not quite sure if any of us were prepared to work even harder, to have our families wonder if our marbles hadn't gotten stuck in the floorboards somewhere. But we were drawn to each other. We had to do it.

I wrote this in my blog just before Christmas of last year, before any of us had met or imagined what we would work together to achieve...

I love fabric of different prints and textures layered and stitched together. This petite brooch from The Littlest Bean is so feminine without being frilly. It would look VERY sweet affixed to a baby girl's soft knit cap. Hmmmm. Maybe one day it will be! Find this brooch and a ton more at jenmenkhaus.etsy.com

A set of note cards from JennyJen 42 is the perfect gift for ANYONE. Really, we use up our coolest stationary fast in this house. Besides, it's just nice to get something in the mail that's not a bill or a forest's worth of junk. Hey, when you think about it, a gift of cards sends cheer all over the place! jennyjen42.etsy.com

And then came Leah. The tenacious CuriousZoo. Leah was not going to give up. Bad timing, be damned! This street team is forming! And we did. JenMenkhaus got us all in line. Her management and organizational skills were essential in our creation, and she still keeps us going strong. And growing. We have all worked so hard. And now, again, it's time to work even harder so we can live up to our Best of Baltimore title.


Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the collaboration between The Littlest Bean and Sweet Pepita turned out great! It's like these hats were meant to be.

CuriousZoo Bio - Leah Bloomfield

Hey everyone out in blog land! This is Leah from CuriousZoo. I'm one of the primary contacts for BEST right now.

So today is my bio day. I'll go ahead and start off with one of those silly memes, just because it's fun. And easy. As seen on Sew, Mama, Sew

1. When did you start to create and make craft?
When I was little, I lived in Colorado. I can recall finding huge white quartz rocks and painting them with water colors and melting crayons on them in the sun. That's when I remember starting... pressing flowers in phone books, drawing Ninja Turtles from dijon mustard glasses, making a styrofoam christmas ornament with my school photo on it, then poking out the eyes so that I could shove green and yellow christmas lights through it. (Hey, it was really neat). I've always been very crafty. Only about a year ago did I start to seriously focus on selling what I create though. I've come a long way, I don't think people would really want to buy bug-eyed christmas ornaments with my photo on them - except maybe mom.


2. Why did you start creating?
I have to express myself, I have to play and experiment. That's what a lot of my craft life has been like, and to a large extent, I'm still figuring things out.

3. Why do you create?
I want to be self-sufficient, I can't stand big-box stores, I want to fill people's lives with art and life and story. I feel satisfied when what I've created goes to live in other peoples' houses - especially childrens' rooms. I want to start making a living off of craft- that in itself is an important goal, not only for the ability to support myself, but to be able to say - "I accomplished this!" .

4. What do you create?
Wow, I've tried everything. Sewing wallets and purses and bibs, industrial jewelry, bead jewelry, collage, knitting, sewing doll clothes and people clothes, pottery, soap making.. I could go on and on. I'm now focusing on photography and art though. It's a good way to get the art out, to spread handmade, and still have time for kids and $ for other, personal endeavors.

5. Has this changed since you began crafting?
I've gone through selling a lot of different sorts of things and I think I've finally settled on what I really enjoy!

Some additional info: I was born in NY. We travelled all over the US until I was about 9, and then we moved to France, then the Philippines, followed by the Netherlands. (My father was in the air force). I have two little boys 1 1/2 and almost 4. My husband Marc is a government code monkey. The both of us are nerds and we tell way too many stories (we write together). Storytelling and mythology are very important to us (:read: we like RPGs) , and we're avid Joseph Campbell fans.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment!