Trying New Things

I've always been a furniture girl.  At every sale or thrift store, my eyes go straight to the furniture.  Fixing up and painting furniture is what got me started on this path of junkin' and I still make a beeline to the furniture before anything else, but I've got a new love... jewelry.  Yes, I know, I'm a complete late-comer to this.  Creative women have been making awesome jewelry since way back and I never really took notice of it.  Yes, I've always thought the typewriter jewelry was so cute, but I never dreamed I'd make it.  I just didn't do the jewelry thing...until now. My mind started to wander from paint treatments for furniture to ideas for necklaces and took the plunge, ordered some supplies, and started out with some easier (but still cute!) things to make, i.e. typewriter pendant necklaces and bracelets.  

Another good beginning jewelry project has been the popular Scrabble pendant necklaces that I can whip up fairly easy.  I made these with vintage ephemera images and I have some more batches coming with vintage seed packet and cute bird images - just in time for spring! 

Next up was crafting some pendants with some funky pictures out of an old dictionary...

I purchased a vintage backgammon game with these cute and chunky chocolate brown and cream colored game pieces and I've been crafting different necklaces out of them.  These have pink clock faces and I was lucky enough to find some metallic chocolate brown chains to go with them.  I've been adding sheet music and other images to these as well. 

And last, but not least...my favorite!  I'm so excited about these!  These pendants have a big glass bubble on the top that magnify the images underneath.  The image looks different at every angle and though I started out making the birds and cameos, the next batch I make will have more letters and words.   

(with silver settings and chain)

(with black setting and chain)

Of course, I had to make one for me!

All of these little babies are going to be at the upcoming Funky Junk Antique Show on April 10th as well as the Angels Attic Show on April 24th. I still love finding great pieces of furniture, but now my mind is always open to what I can create with those little treasures I may come upon! 

Spokane Funky Junk Antique Show - April 10th

It's time to shower yourself with optimism and join us for a junking party like no other, the Funky Junk Antique Show!


Saturday & Sunday, April 10th & 11th

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Irish Dance Hall Grange, just 15 minutes north of the Y in SPOKANE!
Get there: take Hwy 2 North, turn right on Elk-Chattaroy Rd, veer right onto Big Meadows Rd and go 3 miles. Follow the Funky Junk signs and we'll meet you there!

$2 Admission; 12 and under free (good both days)

Train rides available for the little ones!
 
See you there!

I Heart Typography~

I can't remember a time when I didn't love typography, the art and technique of arranging type and type design.  It's been popular for a few years now, but it's so classic and clean, I can't imagine it will go out of style anytime soon. 

I tend to pick up anything and everything that has a number, letter, or symbol when I'm out shopping or junkin'. 

And I love to drink my morning coffee out my favorite mugs with my initials.

I picked up this sweet stamp set in a recent Seattle trip and you can see some creations with these stamps coming soon (April 24th - Angel's Attic).

I just pulled these keys off a typewriter and I'm all set to make some rings, pendants, and bracelets with them.

I could spend hours (if I had them) searching and downloading the hundreds of awesome fonts at dafont.com. Do you love typography too? 

While Momma Plays...

Warning:  If you love to click through blogland to find beautiful images of clean and completely "together" houses like I do, this next posting is not for you...  I couldn't resist putting these pictures up that my girls took of each other and the fun they were having with Mommy's camera while I'm trying to just get something, anything done for the upcoming Angel's Attic Show on April 24th (more on that to come).
Last evening, I had left my camera on the table and got busy working on some projects like making price tags and painting a few little things.  With my husband virtually non-existent this time of year (he's a CPA in the midst of tax season), a baby that literally NEVER naps, and two other monkey-children, I've had a hard time getting ANYTHING done around the house, let alone for my little hobby.  Anyway, I begged the older girls to PLEASE play with their baby sister so Mommy can get some work done.  Well, they had a grand ol' time alright!  They dressed her up, spread toys everywhere, played with stamps (just like Mommy) and seems like they took pictures of it all while Mommy was oblivious...

Poor Summer - don't worry she's just fine.  Naturally, I had a few surprises when I just downloaded the pictures off of the camera!  It's really pretty amazing that a 4 year-old could take these good of pics with an ancient camera that's been dropped repeatedly.  Well, I may have had a mess to clean up when the evening was through, but I got about 200 price tags made and these cute little bird pictures painted and done!    

I'm a Junkin' Junky...

I figured something out about myself this morning...  I'm a Junkin' Junky.  It's not that I didn't already know this about myself, but now I know that extended periods of time away (Fall, Winter) from junkin' will cause serious withdrawals followed by extreme adrenaline rushes when junk is re-introduced.  My step-dad Jon, step-sister Jessica and her one-year-old daughter, Jill, along with my 4 year old and 8 month old and I drove a little way out of town today for a sale that was advertised as over 30 years of accumulation...  I think it might have been a bit more than that, but that's ok.  Since I haven't been out junkin' in a while, my heart started beating a little faster when I pulled up and saw the piles.  This was going to be a true junkin' sale!  Don't get me wrong- garage sales and thrift stores are great, but I LOVE getting to dig through old boxes and piles that haven't been touched in years.  There was a house and several outbuildings including this main shop that had several nooks and attic crammed with bags, boxes and mouse droppings...        

It was pretty bad and I noticed that there no other women (and certainly no other children) participating in the digging.  I guess if there is one thing that growing up on a dairy farm does for a girl is tolerance for this kind of thing.  At one point, I had dug out a large enamel bowl from under some pile outside only to put my hand right inside a bunch of slime.  Oh well, wipe it off and keep digging...

The biggest challenge of the morning was being able to go through the rafters, attics, piles, sheds, and basements and keep the kids safe.  I think I realized how much of a junky I was when I realized how tortured I felt when I had to bow out of digging through some of the attics due to the dust and health hazards for a baby.  Giving up the attics, I headed outside to the piles and carried my 20 lb baby in her infant carseat while she slept and pulled out a cool old door and some other goodies.  After carrying this door for a while in one arm and the carseat in the other, I teamed up with Jessica and we'd take turns watching the kids. I kept an eye on Jill while she dug through vintage fabric and she kept mine while I explored the property some more.  Since I took way longer, I bought her fabric for her :) 

After it was all said and done, I didn't have a ton of stuff, but I'm so happy with my finds, not to mention I got a great deal on all of it!  I debated on this bike for a while.  It had this great old basket and old rear-view mirror attached to it, but I didn't get it because of the front tire.  My favorite find of the day was one of those old round metal laundry hampers with wheels!  I've always loved those, but never have been able to get one until today! 

After I got back from the sale and was unloading the door (above) from the truck, I realized how monstrously heavy and solid it was and thought, "How on earth did I haul that so far with the carseat?"  I've come to the conclusion that I must have been on some kind of junkin' adrenaline rush (yes, sad I know). 

And now that the day is over and I'm utterly exhausted, I know that I'm a bona fide Junkin' Junky and I'm proud of it!