Last Thursday!!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am going to try (for the first time) to have a table at Last Thursday. I will be selling my felt food and coin purses. Aside from me, Bece is going to be nearby playing her saw. Angie will be selling her lovely jewelry and Cory made some fabulous collage art pieces.

I am hoping to be set up between 19th and 20th on Alberta. Come and check us all out.

Talented People: Cory McMahon

I am glad to have the opportunity to show off some of the artwork made by my roommate Cory. I have included pictures of a number of pieces that I really like. She creates these really great paintings with watercolors and transfers on wood. Lately, she has been working with images of buildings and bridges that have an industrial feel. One of her most recent painting (on the left) has an amazing transfer of a building. I think that it turned out just great. (Good job Cory!!)





Since I always love small paintings, I have also included a picture of one of her mini collage pieces. I like these piece because vintage image and the use of lace. No surprise there, I love all things pre-1950 and sewing related.

The Gardening Adventure

In the spirit of the current economy and general resourcefulness, my house has decided to plant a garden. Unfortunately the areas around my house are really shady and not so great for vegetable gardening. We were lucky enough to have a neighbor offer us his back lot. We were quite excited about this because it was a big space that gets lots of good sunlight.

Once we started prepping the area we discovered that part of the lot was pit covered with a big debris pile. This is when the sifting really began. It felt like we were part of an archeological dig chronicling the last five years worth of yard work. This is the amount of sticks and old yard debris that we pulled out of the pit.

Finally we got most of the debris out of the pit and began to till. The most amazing part of the tilling process was when two yellow rain boots shot out of the soil when the tiller got near them. Who knows how long they were buried in there but they had a glorious entrance into the sun again. Boop.....Boop.....out they popped like we were in a cartoon.





Now we are ready to start planting. We have tomatoes, squash, chard, beets, onions and all kinds of other fun stuff. I will be excited to give you updates on how the garden grows. Lets cross our fingers that it grows well. I want some delicious veggies this summer.

Free Box the Magazine - Fashion Issue

As I have mentioned before my roommate has a zine that she makes all about the free stuff that can be found around Portland. Here are the photos of me and my friends around town showing off some of the free clothing that we have acquired. Yes, you heard me correctly... FREE!!!! (Another reason that you have to love Portland.) Let me know what you think of all our different outfits. I particularly like Bece's sweater with the geese on the front. It takes a strong woman to rock that sweater.

Fabulous Fabric Week: The Muumuu

This fabric is actually a piece of clothing that I tore apart. I think it was either a vintage muumuu or maybe a robe. All of the seams were coming apart but the fabric itself was still in really nice condition. I really love the color combination of purple, blue and green. As a bonus, the fabric has a nice texture due to the raised diamond pattern. I like how the pattern looks like molecules or some kind of futuristic flower. Unfortunately the picture does not really do it justice but it is all I have so it will have to do. You get the idea.

Crafty de Mayo

For Cinco de Mayo my roommate decided to have a crafting party to make shrines. This was my first time making a shrine. It is a good craft for my house to plan because we have loads of little things sitting around waiting to be to good decorative use. Here are some of the highlights of that adventure. Of course my shrine is more of a scene then a shrine. I like to call it 'Ode to the Summer Barbecue'. I was inspired by a picture I found from the 80's that my grandpa had taken of his barbecuing expertise. I know that most people go crazy decorating shrines but that is just not my style. What can I say? I like things simple. I also have some of the other shrines made at the party. I love how all of our personalities come out in our creations. What personality characteristics do you see in these shrines?

Fabulous Fabric Week: Retro Turtles Wearing Ties

What can I say. I am a sucker for cute things. I just can not help it. This fabric is a retro print of turtles with a polka dot shell wearing a necktie. Yes, these are turtles are all business. Did I mention that it is printed on corduroy? Corduroy in my opinion is one of the cutest fabric out there. It just screams to be made into a little jumper. Sadly I have no need for a child's size jumper and I am not sure that I am bold enough to make a jumper for myself. I have (for now) resigned myself to using this fabric to make bags. Maybe I will be lucky and soon someone will come to me in desperate need of a jumper. One can only hope.

Fabulous Fabric Week: A Delicate Bird

I have been seeing birds everywhere for the last year. Personally, I am getting a little tired of them because I really hate overkill. Having said that, I think that this is a super sweet fabric. Since this is one of the few bird focused fabrics that I own, I do not feel bad about showing it off. This is actually a curtain so the material is very thin and gauze-like. Unfortunately there are sections that are a little faded but a lot of the pattern is still really nice. This is another fabric that I am saving for a great project. If anyone has any ideas about something I should make with this fabric, I am all ears.

Fabulous Fabric Week: Vintage Babies

I saw this print and I just had to have it. I do not think that it is possible to find a fabric that is more cute. There is a baby holding a squirrel for goodness' sake. You can not get any cuter then that. I really do not have any plans for this fabric yet. Next time someone that I know gets pregnant, I am sure that I will come up with an idea. In the meantime, I will just look at it and smile.

Fabulous Fabric Week: A Modern Floral

I have decided that this week I want to show off some of the great fabric that I have found during my searches. Since I only use second hand fabrics, I always get super excited about some of the great stuff I find. Today I want to show you one of my all time favorite prints. I found this print at SCRAP. I love the modern floral print and the color combination. Sadly there was only about a yard of material so I have to be selective about how I use it. I made a bag with it that I posted for sale on Etsy. It sold in one day all because of the power of an amazing print.
I only have a little bit of the fabric left and my sister, Lindsay, has requested that I make her a bag with it. She is lucky that she is my sister or I probably would have said no and kept it for myself. Since I do like her a lot I am willing to part with the fabric but with a small tear in my eye.

Young love and Free Stuff.

I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who came and shopped at my booth during the Arleta Craft Fair. It was a really great turn out and I met a bunch of really nice people. I want to give an extra special thanks to the little boy who came back to my booth a dozen times just so he could tell me how much he liked my food. He totally made my night. It was my first experience with a felt food crush.

Also if there are any mom's out there who want to try to win some free stuff for their baby, check out Almost Frugal. They are having a free giveaway for Mother's day including one of my coin purses. All you have to do is commenting on the post and you are entered win.