Mandaloolee

Hello! You can call me Manda, and I live in Springfield, Missouri (the Queen City of the Ozarks!). I'm a maker, glass cutter, copper taper, relentless collector, moss lover, dog petter & earthy kinda person.

I'm a mom of an almost-two-year-old (who blows me away every day at the pace of his learning-to-be-a-person skills) and wife of my most wonderful husbeast.

I work hard on my art side business, Serendipology, soldering nature-inspired glass art, stained glass and jewelry. I present my work in a few art and indie craft shows in Missouri and surrounding states and just love it. I have been neglecting Etsy and social media and feel slightly bad about it, so that will have to pick back up soon....

I adore and collect plants. My husband Chris and I are Master Gardeners and are in the process of transforming our back yard into a lush oasis of Japanese Maples, ferns and happiness. Any horizontal space in my bungalow is covered in house plants, so I can't confirm this, but I just may have the best indoor air quality on my block! I definitely dig the verging-on-maximalist Boho vibe.

I have two French Bulldogs who are seriously the best pups a human could ever ask for! If you want to be over-the-top adored by your pet (and are okay with farts and bi-annual semi-emergency vet visits), definitely go with a Frenchie. They are awesome!

I love traveling to places that look like they are straight out of a fairy tale. Vancouver, BC and Vancouver Island are my favoritest (made up a word for this one!) places on the planet and my husband and I are making plans to visit Norway in the next year or so (excited!). I also love travelling local here in the Ozarks. The rugged beauty fills me with awe every time we backpack through it's un-peopled spaces.

I will make any excuse to go outside. It makes me feel good!

I'm very much omnivorous in my art interests! I have been knitting for 15-ish years and it remains my most comfortable hobby. The smell of lanolin in the wool makes me giddy! Even though I am like a 80% Product/20% Process knitter, I adore every stitch and marvel at the magic of a good pattern that produces a work of textile art at the end. I mentioned in the About Me section that have a soldered art business and soldering is one of my favorite skillsets! I love dreaming up new things to make and then watching them go to their new home. I also like to art journal. I'm not the most consistent with this art form, but it's so fun and gratifying! I like to sew and embroider occasionally as well, with sashiko embroidery being my new favorite.

I have three skill goals for this year for myself: 1) Natural dying - I love gardening, so I am going to grow my own dyestuffs as well as use bought powders and try my hand at it. 2) Linocut - I have carved a bunch of my own stamps in the past, but I want to focus more on this skill. 3) Spinning yarn - I have a drop spindle and have started and stopped a few times, but I really wanna give this a go (and then naturally dye the wool!).

Other random things that I have tried, loved and pick back up as the occasion calls for: bookbinding, woodburning, stamp carving, cyanotype, flower pressing, macrame, felting, wood carving, soldering copper yard art, painting, mixed media art, wood working, and hot gluing the crap out of things.

I love the Harry Potter Series and The Lord of the Rings series. They are my favorite by faaaaaaar.

Here are some more in no particular order: The Invention of Air, Last Child Left in the Woods, Anansi Boys, American Gods, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Women Who Run with the Wolves, In the Company of Women,

Favorite authors are: Neil Gaiman - I would literally read anything written by him (The Ocean at the End of the Lane will always be a favorite!) and listening to him narrate one of his books on tape is pretty awesome too!

Brene Brown - She is a researcher who specializes in shame, but who writes the most soul-nourishing books you'll ever read.

Dan Ariely - Behavioral economist who never ceases to amaze me.

Favorite poets: Nikita Gill & Amanda Lovelace

Things I like: Natural history, original art, ferns, bigfoot/sasquatch stories, moss, washi tape, feminism, vintage illustrations, linocut prints, wunderkammers, ghost stories, artist trading cards, note cards, anthropology & archaeology, cyanotypes, old stamps, vintage photographs, witchy things, mushrooms, houseplants, Japanese maples, French bulldogs, scientific illustrations, constellations, paper ephemera (maps, international ephemera, graphs, tickets, interesting textures, vintage packaging etc. etc.), but here's the secret: I like most things! Colors: Indigo, purple, turquoise, copper

Things I dislike: Reproductions (I like originals!), farm-related things (cows, chickens etc.), Thomas Kincade-ish things, children-themed things (reward stickers, stamps etc.)

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