Decorative Jewelry Organizer April 10, 2012

Lately I have been looking at a lot of jewelry storage online, getting ideas for a new project. Not only do I have a TON of jewelry that is always getting tangled up together, but I also have a bad habit of taking off my necklaces and rings and leaving them in various places, only to wonder where they are later. I really like this concept because it turns your jewelry into a sort of framed “art” while hanging, so it’s beauty can be enjoyed even when it’s not being worn. In feeding my recent Pinterest obsession, (which has shown no signs of subsiding) here are some great examples I have found: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

I had some time off work recently, and on friday I got a little frustrated with myself because I feel like I have been wasting this time off, and haven’t been very productive in the wake of the rush to get inventory off to my aunt’s store opening. On Friday, I sat down to make a list of weekend project ideas, and then made a shopping list, and set off for Goodwill and Home Depot.

This project set me back about $25, mostly because of the hardware. I bought a few hooks that I didn’t end up using, so I haven’t included them here, but otherwise, here is a breakdown of the cost:
Frame: $6.99 (used)
Mesh screen: $10, for 3’x5′ roll
1/8th” ‘s’ hooks: $7.49/100 (this seemed highly overpriced to me 😦 … )
gold clip hooks: $3.99/100

here’s the before shot: jewelsplosion

I bought the frame at Goodwill – it appeared to be a fairly cheap, simple black frame. When I went to drill and staple into it however, we discovered it was actually made out of oak, which is a tougher wood to deal with. The issue with the frame is that you want it to be sturdy enough to be able to support the force of the mesh being stretched and stapled across it’s back, as well as the weight of the jewelry. It’s also important to consider how you will hang your frame, when deciding what style to use. I originally wanted to go with a decorative, beveled frame like this one, but I knew that I had a lot of jewelry to hang and I didn’t want to start off with such a heavy frame. I also wanted to keep it simple, so that the frame wouldn’t distract from the jewelry.

First, I gave the frame a few coats of a light blue spray paint.

Then, my dad helped me staple the screen to the back. This proved a little challenging… we couldn’t fit the screen on the inside of the frame, like where a picture and glass would nestle in. There just wasn’t enough space. So we fit it across the back, which left about a quarter inch of space all the way around.

We left a few inches around while we stapled, which allowed us to hold and stretch the screen, to make sure that it was evenly and taughtly attached. Next, we trimmed the screen down to size. This part was a little tedious, as the only way to trim the screen is to cut each individual bit with skinny trimmers. A word of advice, for anyone who attempts this project: These trimmed edges, no matter how carefully you cut, will still be able to scratch the hell out of you if you brush up against them. We could tell at this point that we would have to cover the back somehow, to prevent not only personal injury, but also to protect the wall.

(alternate post title: Dad Crafts 2012: Easter Edition)

Once trimmed down to size, my dad drilled holes along the bottom, so we could screw in some clip hooks, to hang rings.

Now that we were getting near finished, we assessed the inside gap between the frame and the screen. My dad ingeniously suggested I sew some little tubes of fabric, and glue them on the inside. The best part was that I didn’t have to worry about any seams showing, so it was a cinch to put together. I layered some cute flannel with strips of felt, and folded them into the gap with glue.

I had actually already decided to hang this display from the second towel rack in my bathroom, rather than worry about trying to find a nail strong enough to hold it on the wall. But just in case I decide in the future to hang it like an actual picture, and to protect from the deadly spikes of wire on the back, I glued strips of felt to the back of the frame. You can’t see this at all from the front, but it allows for a nice finished look on the back.

click to enlarge!

I originally intended to hang this from the towel rack with a large S hook, but the one’s I bought wouldn’t fit around the frame. Then I remembered that I had these clear plastic shower curtain holders, and they did the trick quite nicely. I added a third clip in the middle for reinforcement.

 Admittedly these little s hooks aren’t ideal – they look nice, and I prefer them to a hook that is attached more permanently to the board, but things must be removed fairly gingerly or else several pieces come falling off at once. These were the absolute smallest hooks I could find, and in fact they weren’t even hanging within the hook display at Home Depot – they were shoved underneath, and the package was taped, as if it had been kicked around for some time. It led me to believe they don’t typically make hooks this small or smaller anymore, and this was old product. If I do this kind of project again I will probably do some scouting for a better, cheaper hanger.

I really love how all my jewelry looks on here, and I think this will encourage me to vary my wear more, as I often get into the habit of wearing one piece repeatedly, when it is new and my favorite.

This… made me realize I have a TON of rings. This is not even all the rings I own! I do wish there was a way to display them so they are facing up, but I couldn’t think of any. Further development may be required….

Until next time!

Imagination Emporium April 4, 2012

I am very excited to announce that my aunt Lisa has opened up her own retail store in Grafton, North Dakota called Imagination Emporium. The store will feature all sorts of beautiful home decor, decorating, and apparel items, some purchased and some handmade. Not only does my aunt have great taste, but she’s also got a really keen eye for displays and merchandising, and I have no doubt her store will do very well. My mom and I were invited to contribute to the stash inside, and we had a great time sewing and crafting together in preparation.  We were able to get three boxes mailed out by the end of last week! It felt GREAT, especially as I was able to send off some creations that have been sitting around my apartment for a while.  While it would be nice to have a few extra dollars coming in each month, I ultimately just want to show my support by helping the fill her shelves. Any earnings are just a great bonus! Also, now I can add to my creative resume that I have several wares for sale in an actual shop!

The first two photos here are ones I received via text showing the excitement of setting up the store.

And now, a photo dump of all the handicrafts I am sending:

adult sized slippers

This is a slipper pattern my grandma taught me, and it was the first project I learned after learning the basic stitches of knitting. She used to make these slippers for her own children, and then all the grand-children… I’d guess she’s made at least 20 pair just for our family. She can’t really knit anymore because it’s too hard on her hands – and these are knit in double strand, on size 8 needles, it’s tough on my own hands! In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity to brag that I actually have developed a knitting callous on my left pinky. Now that is what I called hardcore knitting!

baby slippers

I’s hard to see the proportions here, but these booties are only about 4″ long, while the adult slippers are about 10″. I adapted this pattern from the adult sized slippers. These are an excellent way to use up yarn that is leftover from other projects.

crochet flower headbands

The pattern for these flowers and leaves comes from this book, “100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet.” I believe I have posted about it before. This is an excellent book for creating realistic and detailed flowers for all types of embellishing on projects. The patterns range from beginner to advanced, and the instructions are detailed, including symbolic diagrams. The author, Lesley Stanfield, has created a similar book called “75 Birds, Butterflies, & Little Beasts to Knit and Crochet” that is equally cute and fun.

The flowers on these headbands are made from nice wool yarns that I bought at a garage sale this past summer. The seller had them in medium sized bundles for 25 cents each. I think she was a weaver, but she had no use for them anymore. The colors are just amazing together!

crochet flower pins

This is the same knitted flower pattern as above, but made with a thinner yarn (actually, the yarn I got from Goodwill in this post!) I made leaves for these too, and glued them onto hair clips. My mom was thinking that these flower headbands would be a hit for girls for Easter.

I cut little felt discs to glue on the back, to hide the hot glue and the clip.

Everything looks more legit when you put it in a plastic bag with a price tag on it!

covered button bobby pins

These next barrettes you may recognize from a holiday bazaar I did about a year and a half ago. I was really excited to be able to send these, because since the bazaar they have essentially been in storage. I thought about listing them at my Etsy store, but since there is such a large amount it would be very time consuming to take pictures of them all, and potentially expensive in listing fees, especially if they didn’t sell. I also think they really are best presented in person, and it’s more fun for a potential customer to look through them all together and choose their favorites. I’m very excited to see how these do in the store.

I tried to use all different, fun fabrics, and all sizes of buttons, so there’s bound to be a pattern and style to interest everyone!

bow bobbies

these are just some fun little bow pins I made from glittery ribbon I got at JoAnns.

I will update this blog with updates about the store’s success, so stay tuned! in the meantime, Click here to ‘like’ Imagination Emporium on facebook and show your support!

Portland Zine Symposium 2011 August 13, 2011

The 2011 Portland Zine Symposium was wildly successful! This was the first year in a new location, which was really great! We had a lot more light, and separate rooms for tables, so it felt more split up and not quite so overwhelming to walk into. As usual, every single table was overflowing with great new projects.

I sat next to this really great doorway arch of bamboo and paper cranes!

Here’s day one. I took a bit different approach to my table display this year, I borrowed some really great acrylic book holders from work that allowed me to stand up all my zines, and have a lot more table space than previous years. I decided to bring my typewriter for the display partially because of the extra space, but also because I talk about it in my two newest zines, so I thought it’d be a cool edition, and it goes along with my whole aesthetic.

You can see my two newest projects – on the second book display from the left, in the front pocket, with the typewriters image on the front, is my zine called How I Became A Connoisseur of STUFF. It is a zine about the fine, almost microscopic line, between collecting and hoarding. The other new zine is laying out in front of the typewriter. It’s called Carriage Return*, and it’s a zine of typewriter drawings I did. I’ll make another post soon with more info/details on these zines, and how you can get them!

Day two. Notice the blue paper note in place of HIBACoS… I sold out! I made a little note so that people could leave their email address, and I’d let them know when the second round of copying was finished and it was in my Etsy page. The zine was really popular, much to my surprise and glee! The Multnomah County Library bought 6, and it will soon be in circulation, joining my zine The Left Handed Knitter. So exciting!!!

Here’s Nichole’s side, my trusty tabling mate. I love how our things look together!

All in all it was a great weekend, I did some awesome trades, bought some intriguing zines, and bumped into some old friends. And this year, surprisingly enough, I actually made a little money. I’m never in it to make a buck, but it’s always a great surprise to come home with more than I left the house with. It’s also always a huge compliment that people consider my publications worth a few singles. I had one lady spent $16 at my table alone! She bought several things for a friend, and one or two zines she bought two of. A lot of times people will go right by my table, especially the guys, because my aesthetic is pretty specific and it just doesn’t appeal to everyone. That’s totally okay with me, we all have our tastes. And it usually means that the people who are interested in my stuff really love it, because the style appeals to them so much. I always come home feeling so inspired from the weekend, it’s really a fantastic feeling.  I’m already developing ideas for next year!

Here’s the view from my side of things.

The Sexy Librarian Fanclub July 9, 2011

click to view larger!

Some of my most coveted collected items belong in my vintage glasses frames collection. I started this stash a few years ago, but have always been completely obsessed with vintage frames. I can spend literally hours looking at frames online. After much lamenting and google searching, I bought my first pair of black lenses from a website* called Allyn Scura around 2004 or 2005. Those trusty “female Buddy Holly”s lasted me up until a few months ago.   I recently became eligible for eye-care insurance again, and came into a little money after receiving a settlement from my car accident, so I treated myself to three new pairs of frames from Hollywood Vintage in SE Portland and took them to my eyedoc to get filled.  The process is surprisingly simple!

Anyway, vintage frames have always been on my radar at antique stores/expo, junk shops, and garage sales.  All of the frames pictured above came in some form of second hand, with the exception of the ones I have prescription lenses in.  (In general the frames that I collect are used/have someone else’s magnifiers installed, while the ones I wear are NOS, or New Old Stock. This means they are vintage, but technically “new”, as they’ve never been used. Such a label comes with a much higher price point, and less stranger’s face grease.)  I kept my old frames in a cigar box, and brought them out to show friends, but the box started to get beat up and soon I had too many frames to keep it closed. Displaying collections (see: my take on the Wunderkammer) is something that is really intriguing to me, and I think is often what defines the thin line between collecting and hoarding.

I had the idea for this elaborate glasses display for quite some time – it took a bit of reworking my ideas, but the end result I think is pretty damn rad. This was a project I ruminated on for a while, and then went to my dad with my ideas. My dad is the kind of guy you can ask to construct anything, and in 10 minutes he will come back with an intricately designed plan. He is also a huge inspiration in the sense that he can make something out of literally anything – or nothing.

This case actually started out life as a somewhat unfortunate looking display box for “trinkets” that I bought at Goodwill, and used for a while to store “random crap I’ve crocheted”:

The frame and top shelf have this awesome bevelled edge, which was the main reason I thought this would be the perfect body for a glasses display. The weirdly shaped-and-spaced guts were added in later I believe, specifically to fit someone’s collection.

I didn’t take any production pictures, but over the course of a few weekends, we worked on the box. Dad cut a new back piece that was thicker than the original plywood, and we covered it with a thin piece of foam plus purple velvet.  It took us a while to figure out what kind of hangers to use for the glasses so that they would be evenly spaced and float away from the back of the frame to get dimension, but that wouldn’t distract from the display. Eventually we decided to use electricians wire, which is copper and coated with a thin plastic covering. I wrapped each peg in purple yarn, and added a dot of purple hot glue to cover up the end, so that they all matched the backing. The electricians wire was also a pretty genius choice because I can bend it to meet the specific needs of each pair of glasses – some need to hang higher, or have their pegs wider apart, and this allows me total freedom with that.

We ended up keeping in the top shelf, partly to help stabilize the frame, and partly because I loved that edge and didn’t want to get rid of it. I am thinking about adding a little mirror to the top, because now that the frames are displayed they just beg you to try them on and fluff up your bouffant. I also want to use the shelf to display vintage glasses accessories like the little rhinestoned pin you see in the first pic, or glasses that won’t hang up. I wanted to display my bespectacled spaghetti poodle (1st piece of a new collection???????) on top, but the shelf turned out to be too narrow so she’ll just have to be satisfied with chilling close-by.

you can’t tell, but she’s winking!

*                    *                    *                    *

Another website I absolutely love to browse is Vintage 50s Eyewear on Etsy, which gets updated once a week and each frame is more fabulous than the next.

Click here to view my favorites on Etsy – unfortunately I can’t sort them to only show my favorite frames, but if you flip back through the most recent 10 or so pages you will see a ton of frames that I couldn’t stop drooling over. Most of them are now sold, but I like to keep them in my favorites to admire back on, and swoon over, every few months.

*I’m not necessarily a huge advocate for buying online, as vintage frames are often quite eccentric – and a good fit (both size-wise, and shape) is important, but I was able to pick a relatively simple style for my first pair and my optometrist helped me to choose from the two measurements available on the site. It helps that they have a decent exchange policy, which is something I would definitely recommend checking out before buying anything of the sort online.  But keep in mind, trying on a TON of different styles and knowing you have many great, fitting choices is half the fun of getting new glasses!

Holiday Bazaar Tabling November 27, 2010

The bazaar went so well! I met a lot of great people, including one lady who recognized me from my work whom I’ve helped before, ha! She also had a table. There was a real diverse selection of products for sale, from cookware, scarves, jewelry, and Christmas items.  While the tabling deposit was a little steep (for me at least, I mean I’m definitely still a “small time” tabler) I still made out pretty good in sales after recovering that deposit. While of course, first and foremost, for me it’s all about the crafts and the process of making them and keeping busy, it’s always nice to come home with a small wad of cash to spend on more supplies, and new endeavors!

I slaved for weeks preparing for this bazaar. I got the idea for my biggest project about a month ago, when we had a great sale with a ton of coupons at work. I loaded up on covered buttons and eighths of fabric, and set to work making these barrette sets. They were my biggest hit by far at the bazaar. It was interesting because most of the shoppers were older ladies, and a lot of them kept saying “oh, these would be so cute for my daughter/granddaughter/friends 9 year old” etc. All the fabrics I chose were fun, bright, and defined prints, and I guess some would consider them more juvenile. But I would wear any of them! It’s just interesting to see what kind of audience you think you are preparing for, and who actually ends up favoring your style. I would like to do at least one more bazaar before Christmas, and I’ve discovered I need to try and target an audience with younger teen girls and women with daughters.

I developed a pretty good system for the barrettes – I’d cut all my circles out, then line them up to make the buttons, then line them up to attach the pins… I love setting up assembly lines!

I’m completely proud to say that I made the design for this packaging in Microsoft paint.  While I’ve had a few changes to work with Photoshop and InDesign at school when I was working on the literary magazine, but at home I have little to no budget in terms of technology so I’m always trying to find ways to make due  with what I got. Someday when I’m sure I’m a successful artist and business woman with my own studio and one of these keeping me warm at night, I’ll let myself splurge on a great camera and software to make everything look professional. But for now, Tim Gunn would be proud, I’m “makin’ it work!”

A secondary project for this bazaar I dreamed up are these knitted and crocheted flower headbands. I absolutely love this book and used it in several ideas for designs. I then added some beads to give the pieces a little more texture, and glued them onto headbands using felt circles.

These were absolutely a last minute idea, created the night before the bazaar. I got glittery holiday picks in the floral section of a craft store, cut off the stems, and sprayed them with a coating to keep the glitter in place.

And now, the table! I divided my table in half, with hair things on one side and a sampling of everything else I have made on the other.  As an afterthought I think next time I will devote most of my table to hair things, as they seemed to be the big sellers, and I think my table was so full of stuff that it was a little overwhelming.

To create these headband holders, I covered oatmeal canisters with purple velvet, and pinned them so they look a little drape-y. You can see on the left I also included some feather pad headbands I have made as well.

I dotted the table with a few crocheted friends to keep it approachable, ha.

I look forward to setting up for more bazaars, I’ll post more updates when you can expect to see me out and about!

WL Holiday Bazaar November 12, 2010

…I have been slaving away the last few weeks in preparation for this saturday’s Holiday Bazaar in West Linn.

If by chance you are in the neighborhood, you should stop by! I am debuting my two newest endeavors:
bobby pins made out of covered buttons, and headbands with crocheted and beaded flowers on them!
I’ll also have most of my old favorites, like lucky feather beaded pendants, some resin pendants, my beat writers nb series, blank journals, gemstone rings, and some feather headbands as well. A little of everything!

I’ll post pics of my table setup and new products sometime this weekend. Please stop by and say hi if you get a chance! Even my grandma will be there.

“The Left-Handed Knitter” Now Available Thru Multnomah County Library November 1, 2010

This week I received my check from the multnomah county library, for the packet of 6 zines I sent off to them about a month ago. You may recall that I was approached to sell them zines for circulation at the library this summer, at the Zine Symposium. I am now delighted to announce that my zines can now be found under call number 746.432, at 6 separate branches of the library! You can access them by clicking here.   Needless to say I am thrilled about this, and hope not only that they will be found to be a fun and valuable resource to southpaw crafters around Portland, but that they may bring a few interested crafters to my blog!

http://www.multcolib.org/

Cutie Crafts September 11, 2010

I realized I have yet to make a post about the epic visit I had from my nieces a few weeks ago. The girls are extremely crafty, and can spend hours cutting and glueing, so needless to say we all get along very nicely…

Our first venture included a round robin story-writing conference, where we put my many typewriters to good use:

Next, the girls helped me by modeling many new things I have been meaning to put on my Etsy, but haven’t gotten around to taking good pictures of. Maybe their adorable faces will help me sell out of my Etsy slump!

(custom manicure by yours truly)

In a random fit of what some might call insanity, one night while we were sitting around at 11pm Lily asked me to make her a little owl she found in one of my amigurumi books. I started messing around with it and it came out pretty good! I later made Ashley and Emily these two cute little eggs, with a top and bottom shell. Inside is a little ball shaped chick with a beak and eyes. I didn’t get pics though, I was working on those until the morning they left to go back home.. ha!

with the colors she picked, I think it looks more like a parrot.. but cute all the same.

While at great grandpa and grandma’s for dinner, I showed Ashley and Emily how to crochet. They wanted to learn how to make a ball, so they could make some amigurumi too, so we started with making a square and worked our way to 3D. Ashley took off, but Emily couldn’t quite get in the groove things, until we switched her from crocheting with her right hand to doing it with her left. All the sudden it clicked! So interesting.

this picture cracks me up because they have the EXACT SAME EXPRESSION. concentration face!!!

Here’s a video I made of Emily explaining how to start out, when crocheting.

I really wish I hadn’t stopped the camera when I did, because at the end of the video she says “now, should I show how to start?” as in start crocheting. When I said no, or shook my head, she goes “GOOD, UGH” and everyone laughed!

Last but certainly not least, I broke out a bunch of clearance paper I bought from work for this exact occasion and we all went to town. I had been working on my knitting zine and the girls were very intrigued by a few paper punches I had lying around. And who can resist a pair of decorative-edged scissors??

Portland Zine Symposium Summer 2010 September 7, 2010

Well, it seems I am still recovering from the symposium, a week and a half ago.

I had a really amazing time, met lots of people, saw many familiar faces, and was completely overwhelmed with the sheer volume of impressive and wonderful things that people brought to trade and sell.

I made many sales as well as trades, which I haven’t done as much of in the past. It’s really nice to be able to think of your goods not only as something worth money to others, but something that is as good as money, and a bargaining tool! My most popular item by far was the Left-Handed Knitter.  I sold several packages of Beat Writers Notebook series, one to a journalist who remembered interviewing Allen Ginsberg and told me a great story about driving around with him looking for Kerouac’s mom’s house in Florida some twenty-five years ago.  I gave out a ton of business cards for both my Etsy and this blog, which I hope may bring in a few new interested readers. If you are reading this post as a result of a business card you picked up at the symposium, please say hi in the comments!

Most notable of my sales, I sold 6 of my new zine The Left-Handed Knitter (etsy link forthcoming) to the Multnomah County Library. They have quite an extensive zine collection and are very wonderful about supporting the local zine community. They bought one copy for each of their locations in the greater Portland area, so my zine will be available to check out! I’m really excited about this, and can’t wait to see what kinds of feedback I get on the site and my work.  Very exciting news.

These covers were a little agonizing to cut… The creative part of my mind works so much faster than the logical, planning part. I get these genius ideas but never think through the production and definitely underestimate any time it will take to complete things. But somehow it always seems worth it in the end!

Nichole made a really cute banner for her table with her main zine name, Little Lady. This is our third year tabling together, I’m so glad she decided to come out of her tabling hiatus to hang out with me this year!

Here’s the muscle who helped me lug all my crap in, and most charmingly peddled my wares! Rian also gets credit for all the pics. Boyfriend of the year!

And so ends this year’s zine symposium… and I’m already looking forward to next year! I have a few zines in mind to start working on this winter – my mom has been trying to talk me into making a zine with short stories/accounts of awful, funny, awkward, and furious encounters I have with customers at my work, of which there are many. I think this would be ultimate if I could accompany the stories with comical little drawings, which is something I may have to contract out. I also was thinking of making a mini-zine with my funniest twitter updates.. though I’m still wondering whether anyone else will find me as hilarious as I find myself. While walking around, Rian and I were inspired by a little zine about wiener dogs, and I think we should try out hand at our own fanzine.. Well, I have a whole year to think about these things! Stay tuned for further posts on the library’s catalog, I’ll let you know when my zine is available for checkout!

Zine Making Party August 4, 2010

Nichole and I have had a few days of intense zine making
sessions in preparation for the Zine Symposium.

I am debuting a few new projects this year – one is a zine of a personal piece of writing, one was the Beat Writers notebook series which have been finished for a little while now, and the third and most complicated project is a craft zine introduction to left-handed knitting, complete with images and video tutorial supplements which I will feature on this blog. I have had an incredibly awesome time playing around with imovie on my new(ish) macbook, and have completed four videos for the zine. When I first cooked up this idea I dreamed of burning the videos onto a dvd to pair with the zine, but in the end I decided I wanted to have music along with the videos and I knew there would be copyright issues because I would technically be selling the videos with my zine, and making a profit (as small as it may be.) So, I include links for the videos in the book, and it turned into a crafty (no pun intended) way to get people to come visit my blog.

Nichole has been my PZS buddy for a few years now – in fact we were introduced by a mutual friend at a symposium about 6 years ago. We started tabling together, and 3 of the last 4 years I tabled next to her. It’s always fun to have someone to sit next to and visit with, and we usually take turns watching each others table while the other walks around. Then later we compare things we found, because it’s always so hard to see everything, that someone can show you what you missed. We also have really similar taste in zine reading material, and cute stuff, so we get along great. Nichole makes really fun and cute zines with photography, personal writing, and ephemera from old children’s books that is very nostalgic and sweet. Her Etsy shop is currently closed, but you can sign up to receive updates when she reopens!

our tastes are so similar, see if you can guess who’s table is who from the above and below pics…

Anyway, as the 28th and 29th draw near, we are getting super excited and are planning down to the last minute detail our new creations. Both of my new zines are 95% complete, and are almost ready for copying. For me this is the most exciting part, when all these little pieces come together and suddenly with a copy and a few cuts, your work folds into a book. I will post some images once final production takes place, and of course will have a full report of the symposium. If you happen to be reading and are a Portland resident, you should definitely come check it out at PSU! here’s the website, once again… www.pdxzines.com