SO . . . yesterday [EEK!] the first-ever PR piece for my little upholstery business was sent out via snail mail.

That’s right, folks = my #functionalart is in the latest issue of Darling Magazine!

Can I get a hell yes?

To say I’m elated would be the biggest understatement since [well] I eloped with D back in February 🙂

It’s the first big step to letting the world know that I exist as an artist and I simply could not be happier that it was with this particular magazine. I mean what other publication upholds the beauty of being a REAL woman like Darling?! I can’t think of one. It’s original and is the exact sort of change we need to see more of in the “print” world. ANYWAY, since this issue will be hitting mailboxes [and Anthropologie stores] soon, I thought it was about time to start unveiling to YOU what I’ve been calling Homebird Upholstery 2.0.

(“Life Is A Gamble” – Copyright Pending)

I first acquired this chair back in 2011 as a birthday present [yes, my friends know what I like] this was before my grandmother passed, before I filed for divorce, before there was even blog, a #meandD, ETC. It was during a time in which I was living a life I just wasn’t happy with or in. Under those circumstances, however, my creativity began to flourish in ways I had never expected, and twelve months later, I was going to work for myself in upholstery. In that short time frame, I also met my [now] husband, went to Vegas for the visit time, and was having all kinds of experiences I had never pondered as a reality before. And that’s how this first #functionalart piece came to be. I wanted this particular chair to embody life’s little gambles, because we honestly don’t know where today or tomorrow will lead us. I never planned to be living the life I am living right now, but I am and I sort of look like I have a hanger stuck in my mouth 😉 because I am just so gosh-darn happy. The chair itself is recovered in poker felt-resembling fabric that will slowly show the same wear-and-tear as an actually poker table. It was important for me to have a green textile that was both tough enough for upholstery but could be semi-vulnerable t0 its elements at the same time – much like our human nature. I then used [glittery] red vinyl for the welting to help release the spark you feel as you enter a casino and actual poker chips for the tufted buttons to help bring this artistic endeavor full circle. Last but not least, I had new legs created and finished them with a high-gloss gold paint and my signature [individually laid by hand] Swarowski crystals.

“Authors by the hundreds can tell you stories by the thousands of those rejection slips before they found a publisher who was willing to ‘gamble’ on an unknown.” – Zig Ziglar

All-in-all, this very-masculine chair turned out better than my imagination could ever have envisioned and I simply cannot wait to read your reactions to it. Please leave your comments below! This was the first [of many] out of my notebook full of ideas.