Found Updates, Gardens, and Pump Stations

"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing" 

 ~Thomas Edison~

Going to try and blog more frequently. Adding it to my list of things to keep my busy while going through a long distance marriage. I've been crafting more, keeping my mind and hands active, so there should be more to blog. 

To start with, I have had a happy stomach full of figs all week - yay for September!

Close up of the lovely purple figs I picked from our tree this week.

I have also started preparing for fall at Found on Fremont, by decorating for my favorite holiday... Halloween. I usually make a lot of macabre art, so it's nice for it to finally fit a theme and serve a purpose in decorating in my space at Found. 

I have been collecting old toy violin cases (this one happens to be a music box) and I thought this one would be the perfect halloween card display. 

Added some of my usual plastic bug accents as well. I also turned one of my sister's beheaded-barbies into a skeletal being - nearly a year ago, but she fits right in. 

I also created a new jewelry display using one of my old easels, burlap from my wedding table mats, and an old cushion. I wanted to find a rustic background for some of my new jewelry pieces - some of which are literally 'creepy and crawly.' Friends of mine have known I'm a bit of a bug collector (note: no bugs were harmed in the making of this jewelry - all found as is) and I've repurposed them into some unique curio necklaces. I'm probably a little too happy with them, but I have hopes someone with a buggy heart will love them. :) 

Also did a bit of redecorating and cleaned out some old items. I'm still a cluttered little space of vintage/handmade items, but rearranging always brings a fresh new face to things. 

The space from afar with all my pastel cutesy items nicely separated by some vintage clothing I'm finally parting with. Working as an engineer since graduating college has severely depressed my fashion sense. Cubicle life calls for comfortable practicability - aka - I only get to dress up on days off unless I want to be a construction hazard...

Speaking of construction, jobs, engineering, and the like. 

Here is an example of one of the many pump stations I have visited while working. 

Pump stations. Remember where you flush - they are actually quite fascinating places. This particular pump station is very close to a local brewery, it didn't have a sewage smell to it - more hoppy than anything. :) 

Wedding, Married, Done!

So, now for the post I've been waiting to write about, my WEDDING!

On July 25th, 2015 I married my best friend after being engaged for a year and half. I'm still reeling that I'm a married woman and that I have a h-u-s-b-a-n-d! Anyway, as typical crafter I had a lot of handmade accents to my wedding that I wanted to share with you all here.

Surprisingly, most of the planning and crafting for the wedding occurred about two weeks before. I spent that first week avoiding all the big things like hemming my dress, ordering my bouquet, etc, and made a bunch of accents. 

I made table cards for the food served at the wedding - paper and scrapbooking scissors!

Hand painted my table number cards. Honestly not my best fonts, but hectic times call for a lack of perfectionism. 

 

One of my fabulous bridesmaids helped me make these adorable bow napkin and fork assemblages. They went in the center of the plates, holding the napkin and the fork for the food. I also made my flower girl's basket using some faux flowers and fun wire vinery. 

One of my favorite hand made aspects of the wedding was my broom. "Jumping the Broom" is a tradition from the time of slavery when black slaves were not legally allowed to get married. Jumping the broom gave a sentimental way to validate their marriages and represents jumping into a new life together. Nowadays, many black Americans use jumping the broom as a way to show remembrance to our ancestors and a reminder for a time when our marriages were not sanctioned. I made my broom from an asian supermarket broom, glitter, ribbon, and lots of faux flowers. I wish I had a better picture of it!

Now, we're getting to the aspects of the wedding I didn't make. Following tradition of boutonnieres for the important men of the two families and corsages for the important women of the families, we realized that finding florists to make these outside of prom dates is a little difficult. So, my always craftier-than-I mom made all the boutonnieres and corsages for everyone. Shown below are a couple samples. They turned out lovely - all faux flowers! 

 

Also, shown in pocket pocket above are handmade pocket squares from my coworker. 

She makes pocket squares with two sides and has some really fun material. 

They are such great quality and she sells them on her etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/people/ashleytjaden1?ref=pr_profile

I told her my wedding colors, she found the fabric, brought me samples, and they came out perfect. Her etsy shop name when it's active is usually called: PrivilegedPocket <-- Cute name too!

And, lastly - photography was done by a family friend with a small photography business. Photographer, Donnell Cox and his assistant, Savanah Lacey, took my wedding pictures. They got some great pictures and edited them to match my wedding colors.

College Graduate and Wedding Bells

I haven't posted in months, but now I have no more excuses not to craft or blog anymore. I'm officially an engineering college graduate - with a job - and about to get married in less than a month. So, I guess I do have a few excuses not to blog on here as much. Any crafting I do should be strictly for wedding decorations and whatnot. The nice thing about being out of college is that work doesn't follow me home. I can leave my work and not have to study it when I come home. It's also a weird feeling having all of this time available to do what I want.

I'll be posting wedding crafts and the like on here soon. Nothing much to show yet, as everything is half finished, but I'll literally keep you posted. :3

February at Found at Fremont

Hi all,

It has been forever since I last posted. My final semester of college has come upon me and time for craftiness hasn't been easy. However, my schedule has been starting to open up, so I've been working on a few projects. One of which is my new space at Found on Fremont. I'll be moving into a smaller, but more open space in March, but this month I'm experimenting with a larger space to finally sell some of my refurbished furniture. 

Here are the results for this month's space. I even went with a more specific pastel colored theme this time. I think it's a lot less cluttered than my previous space. 

Anyway, I'll try to post more of my projects soon. I've started drawing again, so hopefully I can get back into painting and try some illustration for cards or prints.