July's Last Thursday & My Visit to the Art Institute of Chicago

It has been a long time since I posted, but so much has happened that I've wanted to share here. I finally vended at Last Thursdays on Alberta this summer, which was the first time in a year. Rather than vend with friends, I got to vend with family. My new cousin came out with me and sold her adorable hand painted rock paperweights (which have been quite a hit at Found on Fremont these days).

My cousin's hand painted rock garden decorations and strawberry paperweights!

Our small booth at Last Thursday on Alberta from July. 

I used a vintage suitcase this month to sell the last of my fabric bows (I think bows may have become a little last season) and debut my new fabric flower hair clips. 

My new fabric flower hair clips, hand sewn using my old bow fabric. 

I think they're patchwork cute and very 70's - ish. 

After July was over, I was spending most of my days working and looking forward to my trip to Chicago, where I got to visit my sweetheart and case out my future home city. Of course, the most amazing part of my trip was visiting the Art Institute of Chicago. I have never been so impressed by art as I was that day. We looked at every exhibit at the museum, totaling six hours of being starstruck by art! The special exhibit was 'Unthink,' which featured Rene Magritte's dadaist (they called it surrealist, but I consider him a dadaist more than anything) artwork from 1921-1929. I was so impressed, but it was the only exhibit where pictures weren't allowed. So... all the magic must simply stay in my mind as a wonderful memory. 

Here are a few of my museum moments that I was able to capture in photo: 

Me beaming next to Mary Cassatt's 'Woman Bathing Child'

Can't help but give a thumb's up to Grant Wood's 'American Gothic'

There was a room full of Monet's work and I couldn't decide which to photograph, so I just took a snapshot of a few and the group of onlookers.

I also worked on some new projects, but nothing is complete enough to post yet. I've been experimenting more with dried bones and bugs, working with old doll parts, and have been infinitely more inspired since my visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Bones, Beach Finds, Fringe, and Funky Racks

Who knew how overwhelming crafting could be when there is time to spare! I have been trying to focus on a few big projects, but it's all the little crafts that keep distracting me! I've been working on a few different things, so I thought I'd share some of the recent finishers.

I recently ordered some fun bones from an adorable shop called Eagerbones on storenvy in hopes to make my own creations inspired by the wonderful Wolftea! Her etsy shop is here and her lovely blog is here! Mom and I have had her as a customer at Found on Fremont for a while and have been her customers and online fans of her beautiful creations, which are made from found nature and bones. I have really wanted to work with bones for a while, but haven't had the guts to... well, deal with animal guts to get the bones. So, when I found Eagerbones, I was stoked! Here is my piece made from a set of raccoon broken jaws, and some mouse bones (they're in small jars that I dissected from some owl pellets I purchased from Eagerbones.) While it's no Wolftea piece, I'm pretty proud of my first art piece with animal bones. Maybe I'll start to scavenge bones and whatnot myself sometime soon. 

What I'm not afraid to scavenge are natural beach goodies! Yesterday my family hijacked me (who was feeling very sick) to the beach on the day Portland was 100 degrees! The Oregon Coast however, was perfect - never have I been to the beach and had it be over 80 degrees. Ended up being perfect weather to spend the day hanging out in the ocean, beach combing, and sunbathing. :) Here was my beach haul and two necklaces mom made from some of the rocks with natural holes in them! I found so many great rocks, drift wood, whole shells, empty barnacles, etc.

Completely outside of scavenging, today I worked on some of my handwoven scarves. I finally got around to putting them in my space at Found on Fremont, but decided to finish the fringe on all them! I used pinterest to get a lot of new ideas on how to finish my scarves. After many knots and twisting, my fingers are bit numb - but I'm really happy to see my scarves looking complete for once!

I am also going to put these necklace/jewelry racks in Found on Fremont or etsy soon. One is made from trophy toppers, which I recycled from discarded trophies. The other is made from plastic doll hands, which I securely fastened and wrapped in chain to make a kitschy, but maybe symbolic necklace rack!

This week I'm hoping to work on some bigger projects, as well as some new lines of jewelry from my beach haul. I'll post when I get another set of things to show and share here!

Summer Update!

It's been a very long time since I last posted, but now that the school year is finally over I have some time to craft again! Also, I'm officially a senior! One more year to go!

Anyway, over the past few weeks I have been working on a lot of different projects. I'll just share a few, all of which are available to purchase at Found on Fremont in my space, which over the year has been doing very well! I'm glad to have stuck with it so long and I'm really pleased to be selling my handmade and vintage finds in a little store.

I have continued painting owl rock paper weights, as the last group I made sold pretty well. I also really like using my beach combing finds for crafts! Now to find something to do with all the shells and tiny rocks I always pick up.

I started working on another refinishing project. Mom brought home a little side table she found at a yard sale and I decided it would look lovely pink! This is only the first stage though, because the final stage will be to remove some of the paint to give it a 'shabby chic' look, which is pretty popular at Found on Fremont during the summer.

I've also been utilizing some of my old pinterest posts, or more like the ideas I had postponed until now. Of course I had to make use of all the plastic dinosaurs I had been keeping in the studio. They look awesome covered in glitter and make cute mason jar toppers when painted pastel colored! Glitter covered anything is amazing, but glitter covered dinosaurs is even more great! :D These have been added to my space last week. 

Along with dinosaur crafting, rock painting, and refinishing little tables, I've still been making some creepy cute jewelry. I had made some plastic spider and roach hair clips a while ago (which I haven't posted here yet), but I decided some roach earrings would be fun for someone as creepily inclined like me. :P I only wish they could be seen in my dark hair. Anyway, I've added them to the shop as well, though I'm not sure Found on Fremont is the right venue for cockroach jewelry. 

Anyway, I'll post some more things soon because I've been working in the studio a lot on my days off from working. 

Holidays at Found on Fremont

I have been trying to stop in at Found on Fremont more often since I have a space there. Every time I visit, it seems like there is always something new. I get so inspired by some of the wonderful displays and crafts the vendors come up with. Thought I would showcase one of my favorite vendors at Found in this post. :) Mom has some of her jewelry and I try to get a piece of her collage work for mom during gift giving holidays as often as I can. This vendor's space is brilliant and beautifully creative! And, I'm so impressed that almost all the things she sells are handmade!

 And, mom's space has been looking super festive! I know Christmas is over, but I like to think the holiday spirit can last a bit into January. :) Vintage ornaments, origami, wreaths, and a petite little tree!

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. :)