Well, hello! Welcome to my home.

Sewing is a triumph for me.

Each day I spend in the midst of creation is a day I've fed my soul--corny, but happily true. I've been immersed in arts & crafts my entire life. I'm very lucky to have amazing parents with artistic backgrounds themselves; my dad is the head designer for a family-owned and American-operated furniture manufacturer, and my mom is a poet and now-retired composition and literature professor. She also happens to be a terrific seamstress and taught me how to sew. Thanks Mom! I fell in love with my dad's 1960s Canon camera in high school and received my bachelor's degree in fine art photography in 1999, leaving sewing behind me for the time being.

You might have been wondering, why the particular choice of "triumph" in the first sentence?

From 2000 until April 2008, I struggled with creative block which, if you've dedicated your life to expression, is a deeply depressing circumstance. I only made work once or twice a year; the difficulties eventually reached my musical endeavors as well. It's not the happiest topic, so I certainly won't dwell. I don't need to think about it anymore anyway. Because...

That time ended when I did (what I thought at the time to be) a silly self-help exercise from the book my mom gave me for Christmas (organizational help for the right-brain dominant--i.e., creative types, like you and me). I was instructed to dream and dream big, with no worries about practicalities or logic. Near the top of my list? The desire to start sewing again. I had to dream big to realize this?? Scary, I know. I hadn't thought about sewing in years. I took a couple of intermediate level sewing classes at Joann's just to get myself comfortable again, and I've been off and running ever since.

Thanks again, Mom. You're truly the best.

I made Cult of Domesticity LLC official in 2008 and now dedicate myself to designing and creating modern/chic/impeccably crafted fashion accessories and home decor items. I especially love handbags...but, who doesn't? I also sell my fine-art photography through a sister company, ShotByGwynneth.

So, dear reader, here we are.

I decided to start this blog to keep me sane during my 70 hour work weeks, while I balance my day job, my exciting new business venture, my band Yuki, my best friend & husband Tony, and our four (yes, 4!) gorgeous cats. We're also trying to get pregnant--can't wait to throw a baby into the mix :)

Please, feel free to comment and question away. I can't wait to hear from you!

PS~Did anyone get the Brenda Dickson reference in the title? It's from her cult classic TV feature, Welcome to My Home, that the soap opera star put together in 1987 to school us all on style, fashion, diet, and exercise. As Brenda so succinctly says, "Style is as just as important as your look."

Ciao,

Gwynneth