I finally put my latest cat plate in my etsy shop! It was sooooooo fun to paint. I want to paint plates all the time but I can’t because it’s costly and the studio I’ve found with best price is all the way down in San Diego. Will someone please open up a pottery-painting studio across the street from me? There’s a perfect spot for it.

There’s a little storefront across the street from me that is so adorable. It has big windows that are slanted outwards at the top. If I were up on my architecture I’d tell you what time period it is from but I’m clueless. This poor shop used to be my laundromat. I thought I had a photo of it but this is the best I can come up with. Did you see my wee tiny fluff-and-fold baby?!!! Those were the days…I was so terrified.

Anyway, this storefront must have terrible rent because it’s been several different businesses since the laundromat and nothing seems to be able to stay open. Maybe it’s cursed.

I have a daydream that my uncle who imports and sell beads (my cousins run the online shop) will open a shop there and call it “Beach Bits.” They could hang strands of translucent beads in the window so everyone who drives by will see them. We live on a big highway with lots of exposure so everyone would see the pretty beads sparkling and admire them. We could sell shell beads and beachy kitsch to the tourists and host beading parties for the locals.

While we’re daydreaming we might as well put a kiln in the back and have a little pottery-painting studio too! Maybe we would warm up the cement floors with old braided rag rugs and of course hang some SAJ and Bug masterpieces on the walls. There would be a orange tabby shop cat named Myrna and a French press brewing fresh pots of coffee all day long. Bug would hang out with me in the back and of course I would blog the whole thing.

And then it would tank horribly because the economy sucks and parking around here is more trouble than it’s worth. But it was a nice daydream!

In the meantime I’ll keep my etsy shop open!