Halloween is right around the corner

     Oh my favorite time of the year, Halloween!  Where I can be anything, isn't that a freeing experience.  Many folks run to the store and pick over what is left of the Halloween costumes, I have been guilty of this myself.  However my mom, a wonderful person, taught me to use a sewing machine in about the 7th grade.  We NEVER wore store bought costumes, but ones that my mom had spent precious time making for us.  We won costume contests, and I suppose that's why my sewing machine has been out for over a month. 
     The Costumes we offer at Oaktopia Design are hand made with that same love mom put into her designs.  As a matter of fact, the first costume I sewed for the shop was a french maid outfit.  My mom made me one for a Halloween party I attended in the 7th grade.  I thought Pops might bust a vein over it, but I promised to be a good girl (and I was) and I think I won my Pops trust that night.

 
     Anyways, I know that not all of us are a standard size, and so I make costumes in all sizes, even into the XXL.  This way every one gets a chance to have a hand made costume that will last for years and years.

     Well with the season fast approaching, I wanted to let my readers know that I will make special trips to the post office so that they can get their costume in time. So please visit our ETSY shop at www.etsy.com/shop/OaktopiaDesign.  That way every one can have a happy Halloween, I know I will.  Lots of love to all of you, NJ

Happy Columbus Day from Oaktopia Design

     Today is 10/10/11 and I know more than a couple of folks who have a birthday today.  So I thought that I would use that as my inspiration for today's blog.  The temporary tattoo you see above was the beginning of Oaktopia Deign.  Even though we had all discussed doing a web page to show off our creations it was Kevin who plucked up the courage to show off his designs first.

      Kevin has been making these tattoos for some time, but they were mostly for friends, and for personal use.  They glow in black light and it seems that every club in the area has some black light in the room.  I know personally every time I wore my tattoos that he made for me, I got tons of complements and everyone wanted to know where to get one.  But the best thing about these little buggers is that they are reusable.  That's right you can wear them out, peel them off and store them for future use.  I have had mine for over 3 years, and I even wore them at Burning Man.  They came home quite dusty, but a little bit of soapy water cleaned them right up.

     A couple of months ago Kev wore his first tattoo out to the art murmur in Downtown Oakland, and people were astonished at how long he had held on to his tattoo and how great it looked after several years, and many trips to Burning Man.  The trick he said was to keep it clean, use spirit gum to place it and mineral spirits to remove it.  They seemingly last forever if you follow his advice and take are of them.  So it was only natural for these fun little guys to make it to the site first.  They come with a bottle of spirit gum and sell for $26.00 which is more than fair for an item that you can wear over and over again.  After 3 years of use mine still look as good as the day he gave them to me.  So go check them out at our ETSY store at www.etsy.com/shops/Oaktopia Design  If the link doesn't work, then copy and paste the site in your browser and that will get you there.  Have a great Monday and I'll see you next week.