New Space at Found!

Haven't posted in a really long time. School is almost out for winter break soon, so I'll be posting new creations around then. There has been no time to craft or make things with this semester being so challenging. 

Big update: I had been contemplating being a vintage vendor in some shops around town, but I wasn't sure which local store would be okay with handmade and vintage items being sold together. So, I went back to Found on Fremont where mom's space is and leased out another space because Found on Fremont is great for vintage, resale, and handmade items. My new space is about three times bigger than my old shelf space and I'm trying to make it more cutesy for some of the more mature shoppers at Found. So far things have been going great and I'm really pleased with how cute my new space is. I think the J'reyesha banner and the signage really helps shoppers see my space. 

If you live in Portland, come visit Found on Fremont! :)

Beach Trip Finds and Back to School

It seems like summer came and went too quickly. Can't believe I'm back in school already. I feel like I ended summer with a pleasant productiveness though.

I spent my last days off with summer at the beach with my family, where I spent most of my evenings crafting. I created a whole new line of leather jewelry and made about twenty new bows, all of which will be available on etsy and in local store, Found on Fremont, soon.

  

Both mom and I beach combed early in the morning too! I was able to find so many beautiful rocks and shell pieces. I'm working on making some more natural styled jewelry using some of the stones I found. My favorite are the rocks with holes in them. When I was little, I used to adore fairies and a book I had read said that rocks with holes are the only way humans can see fairies. So, I pretty much found the fairy seeing jackpot at the beach! :) I think the rocks will make awesome pendants, especially when I add some charms and things to them. 

Outside of crafting, I spent a good amount of time gardening this summer. This was my first summer working in our garden without the rest of my family, so I can't say it was a good crop this year... probably attributed to my not so green thumb. But, I'm very proud of how lovely everything grew, despite the lack of fruit. What I did master, however, was growing corn! I can't even begin to count how many people stopped to stare at the towering corn stalks around our yard. It may have looked a little funny in an urban neighborhood, but the corn was delicious. So, though we had few beans and tomatoes, tiny peppers, and only about 4 carrots... at least we had some amazing corn. 

I also thought I'd take the time to talk about Found on Fremont. Mom's displays have been getting better and better. And, it seems like her space keeps acquiring more and more interesting things. I took some pictures of my favorite areas in mom's space. 

This one displays a local artist's hand drawn cards. I think the vintage accessories and jewelry look lovely with the artist's colorful work. 

I love this vintage vanity set and the way the old pictures and gloves are displayed with them. 

Come visit Found on Fremont for more treasures, vintage goods, and gifts. :) 

Summer of the Bows

I have been so busy working, but crafting away on my days off. Just hadn't had time to upload pictures and blog here. I absolutely love my job at the best book store in town. I'm constantly inspired by some of the funky things we sell alongside the books.

Last week I vended at Last Thursdays with my sister. It was the first time I had sold my fabric bows, leather flowers, and the new line of cutesy jewelry. Things went really well down there and I was stoked to have sold so many of my bows and new items. A lot of friends came by and visited me too, which is great since I haven't been able to spend time with anyone in a while. A photographer even came by and took this picture of our table.
Check out Velour Photography's work here: http://www.facebook.com/velour

The bows did really well on Alberta and I sold a lot at mom's store, Found on Fremont, so I have been cranking out bows to sell on etsy, Alberta, and in the store. I love making them too because sewing is such a great activity to do while watching movies and relaxing. :) This is the latest batch of bows!

I also haven't shared my new business cards on here yet! I ordered these from a great little company called 'Playing with Paper.' She custom made them for me, which my mom picked out the style. Of course, she had throw a crown on there somewhere due to my Rose Festival Princess ties. But, I really like the circle and ruffled shape. Super unique and at a great price for business cards. 

Anyway, I'll try to post some of my newer creations soon. I have a couple new projects in the works that I can't wait to share when they're finished. :)

Aliens, Eyeballs, and Pretty Bows

So, back to work for the weekend, but I'm pretty happy because I crafted straight through my three days off. It's so nice to finally have time to make things again. College and too much time off almost made me forget how great it feels to be creative.

Of course, before I craft I always have to organize my supplies - some of which, are lego pieces! I really liked how they looked after I color coordinated them. Not many color wheels are as pretty as a lego one. And, yes I know it's not a literal color wheel. I wouldn't get any true complimentary or contrasting colors here! ;)

I also got a chance to make a new art piece! It has been months since I even touched any of my assemblage materials to make a new box. This piece is supposed to be about solitude, loneliness, and the dark places your mind takes you when you're alone. Good and bad. But, I was at my job and saw Albert Camus' book, The Stranger, and was reminded of my piece. So, I might make this piece dedicated to Mersault from the book. :)

I have taken to hand sewing a lot of small crafts too. I think I like hand sewing because I can do it while watching shows or talking with family. I had been eyeing (hehe) some eyeball felt pins on etsy for a while, but wasn't willing to pay shipping from the UK to get one, so I finally just bought some felt and made my own. I hand sewed these two pins, an alien and a blood shot eyeball. I'm hoping to find a jean jacket and deck it out with patches and kitschy pins soon. 

More hand sewing and more bows! The few I made for Found on Fremont flew out of the shop, so I took a trip to Scrap in NE Portland and made a whole new line. I'm super stoked with how pretty they are. I still want to order some funky patterned fabric soon, but for now the bows are made out of recycled fabric scraps! 

And, lastly I refined some old collages by adding something to hang them with. Collages are fun, so I was glad to find a way to make them useful for wall decor. 

Overall, it was a very productive three days and I'm looking forward to more crafting binges. 

All Day Crafting - Bows, Scrabble Necklaces, and Rings

I have been so busy these past few weeks. I got a new job at the best book store in town and have been working almost everyday. I'm finally on my normal schedule and am on the first days off! It's funny how much more I can appreciate the free time in summer now that I've filled most of it with work. I guess it's a good thing, because I have been crafting all day.

I had been buying bow hair clips from some great storenvy and etsy stores to accessorize, but it didn't dawn on me that I could make my own until a few weeks ago. Got a chance to try it out yesterday and I absolutely adore the new bows I made. I'll be selling a few in Found on Fremont through mom's space soon. I can't wait to get some new novelty fabrics and make more!

I also got a chance to try some more delicate jewelry work with scrabble tiles. I have always loved collaging, so naturally collaging on a smaller scale was even more fun. I even made a bottle cap necklace, which I haven't done since I was ten. I'd say it looks a lot better than the ones I made as a kid. These will also be for sale in Found on Fremont soon. I'm hoping to make a great display for them soon.

I got some great supplies from an etsy store called Skymagenta, which included a ton of ring shanks. I made some rings out of layered vintage buttons, resin flowers, and even some kitschy domino rings. These turned out so much better than I expected and I can't wait to sell these on Last Thursdays on Alberta. I think they'll be a hit! 

This has been one of my most productive craft days in months. It finally feels like summer! :) 

IB Art Memories

Took the time to go through my old IB Journals from high school and found my old art to be pretty motivating. I'm always wary of being too inspired by artists and copying their styles, but getting inspired by my old art is something without qualms! I'm going to start sketching again and try to kick out some new pieces this summer.

Here are a few of my favorite media experiments from when I was a junior/senior in high school. Hard to believe it's been almost 3 years since I made these.

Watercolor Explorations

I remember getting told this subject matter was "too cutesy." Picky grading with IB

Crayola Marker

(I don't care about what fancy pens I should have used, I still love Crayola markers)

These two were a running theme in my IB art notebook. Political symbolism figures, because people let politics define them. These two will be main characters in a comic I have yet to make someday. 

From when I studied the Chicano Art Movement and Xavier Viramontes' work. I think was one of the media experiments that got sent to the international grading for IB. 

Collage Work

I was too lazy to make time consuming media experiments, so collages were a preferred medium throughout high school

Gel transfer collages are a lot of fun

Pop art with a tabasco twist

Sketches and Such

I went through (perhaps still going through) a manga phase and really tried to develop a style with it. This particular sketch was inspired by the manga, Bizenghast, that I really loved at the time. 

Required self portraits. Doesn't look a lot like me anymore, but the picture I based it on doesn't really look me anymore either. 

From my first box of prismacolor pencils on the way to Canada. 

New Leather Flowers

Took at trip to Scrap with mom last week and was inspired by felt flower hair clips. I decided to make my own version of the flowers by sewing layered leather flower pieces together. I'm really happy with how they turned out! They're now listed on my etsy and storenvy shop. Weather permitting, I'm hoping to make some more for Last Thursdays on Alberta too.

Vintage Things and New Legos

Have officially been on summer break for about two weeks now. I haven't done too much yet except job hunting, listing vintage items on etsy, and gardening. I got to enjoy a lovely week of nice weather to kickstart my summer break and got all my seeds planted in the ground. They're just starting to sprout now as the weather decided to take a turn for the worse - rain all week! :( I'll start posting about my garden when the plants look more substantial and less soggy.

For Mother's Day we took a detour to the Lego Store! It's quite a drive, so it's such a treat to go and handpick my legos for the jewelry and frames I make out them. I was in luck too because they had pastel colors! They're going to make some awesome new earrings my shop.

I've been focusing on vintage items on my etsy lately. Just posted some new things today. Now that it's summer all the great estate sales and flea markets are up and running. I'm looking forward to finding lots of new treasures!

Check out my new items here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jreyesha

A Short Update and Lego Frames

As usual when school is going on, I haven't blogged in months... I'm more than halfway through the semester and already looking forward to summer. I haven't been able to work on anything new, but I've been updating my etsy store constantly and sales have really taken off. Taking trips to the post office and finding ways to recycle old boxes and envelopes is part of my weekly routine now.

Over winter break I was finally able to finish these lego frames that been sitting around my room. These are now listed and are available in my esty shop for $10-12. Check them out, along with the wide variety of vintage and handmade items listed!

Refinished Chair

School is back in session, but I used my last day of break to finish up a chair I'd had in the studio for months. It was in really bad shape when I saw it at a yard sale, but I thought it had some great bones for a chair and I hadn't refinished a chair in a while. Guess the guy at the yard sale thought I was crazy for wanting it so he gave it to me! I'm really proud of the transformation. Amazing what cleaning, sanding, a few coats of paint, and some reupholstery can do.

Before and After

Holiday Crafts Posted Late... of course

Christmas is long gone, but I still wanted to post some of the crafts and finds from the holidays. I'm even watching 'Nightmare before Christmas' now, so I'm still in the holidays spirit! :3

Anyway, I tried some new craftiness this holiday by making bath goods from scratch. A friend of mine is going into naturopathic medicine and taking some herbal classes where she is learning how to make lotions, organic remedies, and herbal healing ideas. So, we made bath bombs, lotion, and bath scrubs for Christmas gifts. It was really fun and I can't believe I made lotion! There is something about knowing all the ingredients you put on on your skin that is just wonderful.

As far as awesome Christmas finds, I had to post this adorable Santa mom found. This guy is a kitschy hit, though he only got to be in the shop for a few days before Christmas was over. At least he'll be around for next year too. Hope everyone had a great New Year! Looking forward to more crafty ideas and kitschy finds in 2013!