SAGE DECISION: Sage Adderley, zine writer/artist/mom, opened a zine library and arts center for fellow creatives—and their kids. : Michael T. Regan

So here's Adderley now, living on the top floors of a house in South Philly with her tattoo artist partner, Garrett, and their children—Emily, 5, and Bella, 2—and operating an arts laboratory that triples as a zine library and home school.

Welcome to Sweet Candy Distro and Alternative Arts Center.

Adderley, a writer and tattoo artist, started Sweet Candy Distro back in Georgia in 2004 after the birth of her second child. "I didn't want other people raising my children, but didn't want to stop and stagnate as an artist," says Adderley. "This was something we could all do together."

She started small, distributing her own work, then began distributing other people's zines, DVDs, books, CDs, crafts and handmade bath and body products. The Philly zine folk whose work Adderley distributed—I Hear You Like Stories' Meg Favreau; Mister Fujiyama Loves You's Sheena Allen; Stale Cake's Ashley Sue; Emma Goldman's Rebekah Buchanan—convinced her she might find Philly more amenable to Sweet Candy's idea of a burgeoning, physical library. So Adderley moved here in 2005 and opened the Alternative Arts Center in January 2006, offering resources like a copying machine, oils and pastels, large boxes of yarns, knitting needles and crochet hooks. There are free workshops, monthly crafts nights, even a zine book club that would impress Oprah.

"As long as people can find good use for what we have available, we're here," says Adderley. That even includes old clothes and canned goods donated by local and national artists. Due soon: a binding machine and typewriters, plus knitting and fabric dyeing classes.

Right now, the brick room is empty—just some desks, a computer and an old Gocco print machine. There are kids' drawings on walls and racks of zines. Soon the house will fill with the women from the Philadelphia Etsy Street Team—the craft-making, auction-selling locals who use the house as their meeting space. The room will fill tomorrow with 20 to 30 children dropped off to socialize, or to bake and learn arts and crafts.

"It's awesome," says Michelle Moricola, 30, one of Etsy's artisans. Along with using the center's button maker to create promotional items for Etsy.com, Moricola busies herself making stencil art, stickers and clothing for her online shop. "I was excited, not only because Candy's a great service to crafty people in Philly. I live so close I could throw a rock and hit it. Not that I would, but you get the idea." Moricola's impressed by Adderley's gracious hostess skills (there are always fresh baked cookies and coffee around) and the creative environment, but she's also happy with the center's openness to kids. "I'm a mom. It's important to encourage creativity in children. And it's inspiring to be around creative people and have inexpensive resources to use. I want to write zines again, which is something I haven't done in 10 years."

Adderley, who home-schools her kids, has taken the community library/arts lab concept one step further, offering an in-house co-op where kids can socialize while taking part in arts classes and science hours. Adderley and the kids plant flowers in her backyard garden, learn to cook, make birdhouses and birdwatch, even go to museums and zoos. She's not against TV or video games. She just believes there are loads of cool things kids can be doing. "I'm emphasizing that in my kids," she says. "Why not teach some others?"

Some of the 30- to 40-year-old parents are hardcore anarchists, some old-school hippies, and some are completely the opposite of both. "But we all have that common ground: We love our kids and we want to school them independently," says Adderley, a home-schooler who likes structure (she's currently looking into area charter schools for her kids for fall).

For now, Sweet Candy revolves around Adderley's schedule because she pretty much does it all. This will change when others contribute their teaching skills. But for now—as long as she posts times on her Web site—her Candy is the sweetest thing.

"I love that Sage started Candy because it's a great place to do stuff," says Meg Favreau, 22, whose zines Sweet Candy sells and whose online store, Gladys Sells Things, Sweet Candy promotes. "She has great resources, a friendly atmosphere and free coffee. Secondly, it makes me happy for her on a personal level because she found a way to do exactly what she wanted in this new city while still being a home-school mom. And she has free coffee."

Sweet Candy Distro and Alternative Arts Center, 1508 S. Fourth St., 215-531-3155, www.eyecandyzine.com/alternative_arts_center.html.