Beautiful Seascape......a gallery show

I wanted everyone to know about my friend Sayuri's show a Alma chocolates on NE 28th near Davis. She has created an underwater scene with coral and jelly fish. The opening has already happened but you can still go check out her installation and eat some delicious chocolate. Sayuri also has some other super cute creations that can be found for sale in her etsy shop, Shamui.

Here is a picture of the pickle family that my roommate and I got from her. They are crazy cute. The little one is mine. She is my new Pickle Things mascot.

What Should I Wear?

Well it is official, I might have to change my position on dresses. Generally, I would not call myself a dress person. I like skirts because they seem more versatile and casual. My feelings are changing because recently I have had some very lovely dresses come into my life. One was a gift, one was found at a clothing exchange and one was found in a free box. Look how amazing they are. These are all fabulous vintage dresses and I can not believe that anyone would want to give them away. I suppose their loss is my gain. You will not hear any complaints from me.

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.

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.

SCRAP Happy

I am excited to report that I just got a new job. It is at SCRAP (the School and Community Reuse Action Project). It is a super awesome non-profit that collects art supplies and office materials that would have gone into the landfill and makes them available to teachers, artists and the general community. I will be working in the store where you can find all of the fabulous goodies at a fraction of the price you would pay for new supplies. There is all your normal art supplies like paints, mat board, fabric, markers and paper (to name a few) but also random cool stuff like violin cases, fencing masks, and holographic sheets. Anything that could be used in an art project. I have been volunteering at SCRAP for about 2 years and so I am really excited to now be part of the staff. SCRAP includes everything I love; art supplies, cheap stuff, and reducing waste. I am one happy girl.
If you live in the Portland area, you should check it out on:
2915 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.
We are open Weds 11-7, Thurs-Sat 11-6 and Sun 11-5

SCRAP was just featured on KATU our local news station if you want to check it out click on the picture below.

Tofu Containers: the endless possibilties

In an earlier post, I mentioned my friend, Liz, who was always looking for uses for her tofu containers. One of the things that she makes are tofu nightlights. I asked her for permission to show off her creation so here they are. She laminates her drawings and attaches them to the tofu container. A light is added though a hole cut into the bottom. Much more interesting then those store bought nightlights.

Furnishing Your Home with Freedom

I live in a house full of people who love free stuff. Luckily, we live in portland where free stuff can be found everywhere and by this I mean on the side of the road in boxes or bags marked with the word "Free". To celebrate this, my house (ok, mostly Bece) has decided to make our own zine called Free Box the Magazine. Our first issue can currently be found for free in free boxes around town. Some of the things we discuss include free box ettiquette, great finds, and where to go for the good stuff. The next issue will be our fashion issue and I have actually been talked into doing some of the modeling. I let you know when the new issue hits the streets.

Can Kitsch be beautiful? Of course, it can.

As a homage to crafts of days gone by, I have a collection of embroidered wall hangings from the 60s and 70s. For Christmas, my sister found two more for my collection. Not only do they have lovely embroidery patterns but the gold frames push them over the edge to a whole new level of kitsch.
I also received this embroidery from my friend Liz. She found the pattern and did all the embroidery herself. I think it is amazing. It is the only one in my collection that was created for me.