T'was a Decent December

Figured I'd try to get one more blog post in for 2018. Per usual, I haven't been crafting or making anything new outside of jewelry... but life has been busy. I aged another year and spent it in Hawaii! Such a beautiful place! It was my first trip that I didn't want to come home from. Truly paradise and I'm already plotting my return.

Beautiful Hawaii - where I got my first sunburn in DECEMBER!

I never really used to get excited about Christmas because I'm more of a Hallow-queen, but my space partner and I really went all out this year. We dedicated an entire space to it this year and I loved how it turned out. I even ended up decorating my house with more than just a Christmas tree! 

Red & Green Bonanza (plus white because I'm a magpie for milkglass)  

I've been continuing to fill/merchandise two spaces at Found on Fremont, manage two etsy shops, and a clothing resale storefront on Poshmark. The 'side hussle' is real. I remember starting these side businesses while I was in college as a way to pay my way through. It's funny that it's become such a FUN hobby nowadays. It's also a perk that it brings in a little income too. I love hitting the flea market and checking out thrift stores in obscure locations. I literally drove twenty minutes in Hawaii just to find their Goodwill in hopes of finding some unique vintage loot.  

Obviously, I enjoy my 'side hussle' vintage resale, crafty goodness, etc., but it's also been a busy month for my 9-5 career too. Last week I started a new job with the Water Bureau, doing more of the same with construction management . It's exciting to move onto clean water after spending my first years out of college with wastewater. Going to have to get some new 'dad jokes' for clean water at some point... help? ;)

Texas Visit and Awaiting Fall (Basically just Halloween)

Took some time to visit family in Texas over the Labor Day weekend. I hadn't been in almost ten years and it was long overdue. My dad's family - going back to my great-great-great grandma is from Daingerfield, Texas. A small town about 2.5 hours driving from Dallas.

Proof that I didn't spell the town wrong. :) 

I thought I was going to spend a lot of time studying for my upcoming Professional Engineering (PE) exam, given that there is hardly any phone service/wifi connection out in remote parts of Texas. Instead, found myself spending most of the trip talking and learning about my family's history, which is truly fascinating. No crafting, no studying, no thrifting for vintage goods - just good old family history and bonding. Couldn't be happier.

Also - going to share this picture of my family's church. Out in Daingerfield, there's a small, but active community that still meets here. Church built and originated by my family on their farm.

I have to give kudos to sweet Texas for the Southern charm. Everyone was SO nice. 

Upon returning home, I was glad to see that the weather in Portland has returned to a lovely 70 degrees with some chances of rain. Fall is coming and I'm excited for my favorite season. Actually, more excited for my favorite holiday. My halloween decorations are already up around my house and I was stoked to see my vending partner at Found on Fremont is just as ready for Halloween as I am. Came back to restock and saw this lovely display of spooky vintage goodness!

Rats, owls, apothecary bottles, doll parts and Stephen King. Halloween spread is on point this year. 

Summer Thriftin' and Life Updates

Oh look, it's been about 6 months since my last blog post.

Life has been busy. I've been actively working on my 2018 goals. I know - most people's new year's resolutions fall short by about now, but at least the only one I've completely failed at is blogging more. I've been going to the gym routinely, eating gluten free, traveling, and have began the arduous journey towards getting my P.E (Professional Engineering) license. 

I visited Philly to visit the Mutter Museum, but couldn't take pictures inside, so here's Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, which showcase local artist, Isaiah Zagar's mosaic work. Beautiful!

I've been spending a lot of time thrifting and enjoying estate sale season. I even went to my first traveling antique show, which was more for personal shopping than for business. Was great to see so many true antiques and talk to some of the vendors. I could definitely see my retirement hobby as being a traveling antique vendor. Reminds me a lot of the jewelry vending I used to do when I was a teenager. 

In regards to the vintage business - my space partner and I have expanded and now have two spaces at Found on Fremont. We've added a separate shelf that we've jam packed with goods. Helps spread things out from our main space and has proved to be a good investment! 

Outside of thrifting and restocking Found every weekend, I've been crafting a bit more. Hosted my first "Crafternoon" with work friends and now I think we may have a semi-monthly rotation planned. Did I mention how lucky I am to have such a creative bunch of women engineers at my job? :) 

There's still a small niche market in my bug jewelry and now that it's summer I've been gifted lots of ethically found bugs for my jewelry. I haven't delved into any new projects lately, but last weekend I picked up some fun furniture finds - given the space they take up, I'm hoping I'll be motivated to start painting/reupholstering soon. 

Supply shot - jars of bug love for my projects. 

That's all for now - fingers crossed I'll post again soon! 

I still have garden and construction work things to share later. :) 

New Years: Leather Earrings and my Inner Spider

One of my new years resolutions is to create more, and hopefully in creating more, I'll also blog more. I spent a lot of time last year working on keeping my vintage space in Found on Fremont well stocked. My space partner and I have a pretty distinct style in how we merchandise, and after next month - it will have been 2 years together in our space! Hard to believe so much time has passed. I'm planning to focus more on my creativity this year, since it's always been my favorite form of self care.

Post Christmas display - retro blues/groovy oranges

One of the constantly restocked handmade items that I routinely sell at Found are my leather earrings. After the Christmas rush, I was pleasantly surprised to find out almost half of my sales were entirely from my handmade jewelry! Recycled leather earrings in simple, rustic and leafy designs seem to be quite popular and it amazes me that I've been working with same leather scraps/colors for over 5 years now.

Along with making more jewelry lately, I've started weaving again. I learned to weave when I was 9 years old and I was at one time the youngest member of the Portland Handweaver's Guild. It's something I've been considering joining again if only I wasn't so bitter about the trendiness of weaving these days... (Yes, over/under on a frame loom is technically "weaving" - but it's also the same technique I taught kindergarteners and there are MANY weaving methods/looms in existence). I taught weaving for about 7 years to children at an elementary school, which always kept me weaving in my spare time. During college, I started weaving less and less, mostly because it is incredibly time consuming. My inner spider (nature's weaver) has been motivated to weave again, particularly while Netflix binging. :) It's only January and I've already finished two new pieces!

Outside of my crafting endeavors, my job takes a lot of my time. Between the commute, meetings, post work networking events, and studying for licensure exams - the weekends never seem to be long enough! Crafting and my vintage resale hobby definitely make for a good way to decompress after long weeks.

Old things and wastewater engineering. Sometimes my job is perfectly in tune to my interests.
Portland's 1920's Ankeny Pump Station. I'm looking forward to managing the ventilation upgrade soon.