Heirloom Tomatoes and Skeletons

Haven't been working the studio as much as I would like, but still managing to thrift for the shop and garden a bit. Surprisingly, Portland hasn't rained in almost a month. I'm not sure I like it. In fact, I kind of miss muggy cold days. And, I really miss wearing sweaters and boots! Though, if it were sweater and boot weather, I wouldn't be getting these tomatoes or dahlias this far into fall.

Yellow Brandywines, Mortgage Lifters, and Hillbilly Potato Leaf Heirloom Tomatoes! 

Don't you just love the names of heirloom tomatoes. :)

Also, with Halloween on the way, I have been getting ready some of my old Dia De Los Muertos artwork from high school to put in the shop. Gonna put these old friends in the shop this week. Though, I'm a little attached to my marigold holding skeletons at the gates of heck. I may have to whip out some old inspirations to make some more festive art.

Last Last Thursday, Domino Tiles, and new Leather Earrings

School has started again, much to my chagrin. Too much calculus and too much physics, but because it's the beginning of the year I've still had time to go in the studio. I even had time to attend the last Last Thursday on Alberta of the summer. At the show, I put my latest domino/stamp pendant necklaces for sale. Since I've started collecting stamps, I have been saving a few for pendants because they are just so pretty and detailed. Mom found a baggie full of vintage dominoes at a yard sale and I've been making a few pendants whenever I can.

I've also started selling my leather earrings on etsy, rather than just at Found on Fremont. I had searched the leather earring tag and realized that there were not a lot of affordable leather earrings sale and some even looked commercially made from a merchandiser. I sold a few of my etsy leather earring collection at the Last Thursday show, but the five pairs I started with are shown below. I've been experimenting with new layers and some of the other leather colors ( I usually stick to red and brown)

Malaya Garlands

I couldn't help but post my sister's recycled fabric garlands. She's never been super motivated to craft like my mom and I, but last week she started sitting down for hours at a time to cut and tie these fabric garlands. For a while, every room in our house was decorated with a garland, but they're now available at the store (Found on Fremont) in our space.

Mama's New Treasures

Thought I'd share some of my mom's latest pieces. Lately, she's been the one making assemblages... I feel like I need to get back into the loop there. Mom has been decorating little jars with buttons and ribbons, turning them into beautiful containers for supplies.

As far as her little frame, I made the picture hanging inside from a class we took at 'Collage,' where we made tile framed pictures. I had no idea what to do with it, but mom was able to make it lovely with the boot and buttons.

Summer Updates

Feel like I'm always apologizing for not blogging enough here. I just wanted to let everyone know what I've been up to this summer. I have been working most of the summer, but during my free time I have been spending a lot of time at 'Found on Fremont.' Having my own space requires a lot of time making and buying things to keep it new and fresh. Yesterday was the Fremont Festival, so I took some time to help out the other vendors with our outdoor display. It was probably one of the busiest days I've seen at the store, and I was glad Portland's hottest summer day wasn't keeping people from shopping! 

Check out more about Found on Fremont on the blog I designed for us: http://foundonfremont.blogspot.com/

Here is one of Found's outdoor displays from the Fremont Fest- a summer table filled with pyrex! 

Speaking of shopping for the store. Here are some of my favorite finds from over the past few months. I absolutely loved theses two items. They're just so kitschy and fun! :) Almost kept both of them. 

This hilarious 'God Bless This Lousy Trailer Plate' made me laugh so much! Such a fun piece. The bedazzled Virgin Mary is actually a shirt with the icon printed entirely over the shirt. I wore it a few times to school and let's just say it was quite the conversation piece at my Catholic private college. ;)

I've also been spending some time in the studio working on various projects. I'm going to post some of my new jewelry pieces once I get a whole collection ready to sell. My latest project is getting back into painting. I finished my first painting of the summer last week! I'm not a pro and I definitely need to practice more, but I'm glad I was able to blend my paints together more than I usually do. Hope I'll get to make another painting before my summer ends! I want to try a self portrait or still life of some sort. 

So, in this long novel and picture fiasco of a post I think I've covered almost everything I've been working on in these summer months. Because I've been working on the Found on Fremont blog, I'm going to try and keep this blog updated as well. More pictures of new jewelry and some of mom's new work will be uploaded soon! :) 

Found on Fremont Updates!

I'm officially on summer vacation and have successfully completed my first year of college! So... now I have more time to work in the studio and help out at Found on Fremont. I just wanted to update how the space mom and I started has changed. We've moved to a bigger space and we've filled with all sorts of vintage treasures, handmade jewelry, kitschy cards, and other collectables. I absolutely love looking at all of the other vendors spaces. Everyone is definitely preparing for summer, with lots of garden decor, springy vintage items, and beautiful furniture.

Also, two weeks ago I just got my own small shelf space. It has more of a fun and bright colored theme to match all of my lego frames, collaged pieces, etc. I'm so happy with how well it turned out and how many things I was actually able to fit into it! I'm just glad I have another venue outside of etsy to sell some of my work. I've also put a lot of supplies into my space, so that others can make things to create with.

Come visit at: 

4743 NE Fremont St

Portland, OR 

https://www.facebook.com/FoundOnFremont

Steampunk Estate Sale Finds

Last weekend mom and I hit an awesome estate sale by my college, where we found some great items for the store. That alone was something to blog enthusiastically about, but... the best part is that the sale had had jars of old nails, wing nuts, bolts, chains, and other metal pieces. I put all of the goodies I found in this dandy felt tray I found at a thrift store! I think I officially have a steam punk collection to make jewelry and new art pieces. Can't wait to have some time to work in my studio!