Sunday, September 28, 2008

sunshine

This weekend was very warm, sunny and dry. I spent a couple of hours today running around looking for black paper for the Current Resident zines. I never found it. I finally came home and ordered it online. When I came home the sunlight was hitting the garden so perfectly. They were so bright and beautiful. I don't think these photos I took really captured it.

In the background of this photo you can see the little bit of my geranium that is coming back.

I added a cute new print in my shop this morning. It is made from a vintage game card and vintage wallpaper. It comes in the oval black mat with backing.



Oh and by the way I added a poll to the side bar of my blog. Please chime in, won't you? I would appreciate it. Hope your weekend was grand.

Friday, September 26, 2008

one more down

Thursday I got the chance to go to an Office Supply store in inner SE that is closing. I had always wondered about it and wanted to go in. Since I heard it was closing my mind has been reeling with the possibilities of old products and displays in that old Office Supply store. The place has been in business there since 1927!


There wasn't as much old stuff there as I wanted there to be. Or at least not the kind I was looking for. There is a lot of 80's stuff there. Lots of big floppy disk holders and 80's style desk accessories. Some of the prices were ridiculously high. Even with the half off. Check out this pack of memo sheets for $12.00!


I did find some cool stuff to take pics of. I especially liked the old signs - or signage as the annoying people say. And these old pen nib packages were so very cool. I love that font that says "for drawing or lettering". They said they found these in the back. I wonder how long ago they were ordered.



There is so much in that store that is completely outdated. There was this whole wall of ledgers. Boxes of extra pages made to fill binders for accounts and payroll. These were purchased 25, 40 years ago and are still there. Once such a business staple, now, pretty unneccessary.


Anyway, I am glad I finally got to go in there. It is always sad to see independent businesses that have been around so long finally close. But, it had a long run. I will miss seeing the signs when I drive by.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

bits and bobs

I have been working in the craft den this afternoon. I am working on a small collage (and finding the fact that it is small difficult to fit things in) possibly for a postcard exchange - but we will see how it turns out. :-7 Here is a little sneak peak:

Going through things today gave me a chance again to see what I have. I forget once it is put away! I found some great things that prompted two new easy project ideas that you should see soon.

Here is a neat thing that I found today that I had forgotten about. These small Old Maid cards look like they are from the mid 1950's. I especially love Tubbins!


Sunday, September 14, 2008

saturday afternoon

While doing errands yesterday I had the chance to stop by a couple places I have been meaning to get to.

The first was the new shop Ink and Peat. This floral and home style store is run by the woman behind the Housemartin Blog. I had been following her blog for a while before I realized she was in Portland (this happens to me way more often than you would imagine - just a testament to how many crafty/design people are in Portland).

Her store is so beautiful - wide open and full of light. It is like a little vacation to browse the store.


The merchandise she has chosen to carry and the flower arrangements she has created are stunning. My favorite part yesterday was how she displayed things, using things like old rusty scales. The contrast between the old and rusty and the full bloom of colorful flowers was really pleasing.


















I very much liked these little spikey bowls. Everything there was beautiful. Stop by for a visit.
























After I left Ink and Peat, I remembered Tidalwave and was so excited to have the chance to stop by.

Tidalwave is a bookstore that sells old library books. It is part of the library system and you can get some great books for very little. In fact, I saw a very popular vegan cookbook (which I already have) for $2.00! I especially love Tidalwave for cookbooks, but they have everything!
























Their weekend hours are very limited. They are closed on Sunday and only open till 4pm on Saturday, which is one of the reasons I seldom get there.

It is located in a old library built in 1912 and it is one of many favorite places in Portland. One of those places that makes Portland so great.



















I got a locally self-published book along with a couple cookbooks and a vegetable identifier book that was really cool. I also got the dvd Xanadu. I have actually never seen it, can you believe that?

The self-published book gave Steve and I hours of hilarious fun last night, which is why I am not mentioning the name of it, but let me just say that for $2.00 it was the best thing I have bought in a while.

P.S. Surprisingly, we were left with real admiration for the authors self-confidence on the book she put out, even of we did find it to be an absolute train wreck.

Monday, September 8, 2008

don't dilly dally

Aren't these so sweet? Jekbot made these dilly bags and you can get them now on her Etsy site.

This is one of those crafts that makes you wonder why no one thought of it before. There are so many neat doilies out there, but not everyone wants to put them on a table. I myself have a number of them.

Jekbot makes little market bags with them, perfect for holding fresh produce.


Reusing materials and saving plastic produce bags. It's a win-win.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

zine broadside

Hello. A few days ago I added to my shop some zine broadsides. Broadsides were something that were especially popular in the 60's and early 70's. They combined poetry and art by presenting the poem as a piece of art, something you would hang on the wall, often they were illustrated and some were poster size.

I was copying one of my zines a while ago and thought how sad it was that people don't see it in color. That is when I thought to do it as a broadside. It took me almost a year to finally do it, but I did. Here it is.

It is from Imaginary Life #3, which is a zine of four little zines, one for each season.

SEPTEMBER SALE!

I just marked down some things in my shop for the first time! I am ready to get some things moved out and restock with new items. Stop by the shop to see what is on sale! 20-35% off! Sale goes till Sept 6th!

Maybe you can start your Christmas shopping early. I already have a couple presents squirreled away.

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