(Last) Friday Finds

Here are a few things I have found in the last few days:

Vintage Oil Painting in Antique Frame

A Mismatched Set of French Ivory Forks for the Fireball

Large English Ironstone Platter.  Love the Crazing!

Perfectly Paint Splattered Steppin' Stool

A tiny German Cuckoo Clock for the Fireball

A Vintage Tambourine

A Vintage Leather Wallet from the 1934 World's Fair

A Vintage Butterfly Napkin Holder for the Fireball

A Neat Old Photo

Three Holiday Reindeer

Two Swedish Enamel Dishes for the Fireball

Vintage Felt Snowman

Two Different Beeswax Candles.  Pinecone and Bunny

Transferware Egg Shaped Dish.  Lovely

Honey Pot

Bakelite and French Ivory Handled Knives and Server

Old Painty Brush

And a Glass Flask.  Very Important!

So that's a few of the items now lingering in my garage.  I have such a massive load of items to price and get down to M&M.  I will post a quick note when I take new items there and try to show pictures too. 

I did get my ETSY account initiated but I have a lot of tweaking, finishing and learning to do before you see items listed there for sale.  I will definatley publish a big grand opening post when it is up, running, and filled with items to purchase.  Hopefully this will happen in the next few weeks.  But until then I will continue to buy and make great stuff and you'll see it there soon. 

I also hope to get some regular features going on here at Smashing Rubbish.  Friday Finds will become a show and tell of new items bought or found during the past week.  I will continue to share crafts, repurposed and upcycled projects, art work, sewing projects and the like, as well.

Thanks to those of you who leave comments and feedback!  I appreciate it and I love reading what you say!  The only way I know to respond right now though is to post a comment back in the same post so check back if you are waiting on a response from me.

Off to finish getting my pickles lacto-fermented! 

Jennette's Kick-Ass Southwest Monroe Bucket Cukes

coming right up!

xox - Jennette

 

Oil Painting Tote Bag

Yep.  It was an oil painting.  Stretched canvas over a wooden frame.  This may not be everyones cup of tea and there may be varying degrees of opinion as to the appropriateness of cutting a painting off a frame and making a tote bag out of it.  But I really took to the idea after I was inspired by this article over at Design*Sponge.

Swarm, run by Leslie Oschmann in Amsterdam, looks amazing. 

I see these great, cheap, interesting, quirky, oil paintings at sales all the time.  They aren't master works but someone did take the time to make them.  When I can get them, especially this size, for $10 or less, I grab them up.  I have a handful more in the works.  I will show them to you as they are made.  I am trying different techniques with each to see what works best and highlights the painting.

Here is the pagoda oil painting after I cut it off the wood frame.  It was large but I decided to use the whole piece.

This is the vintage cotton toile I decided to use for the liner material.  I cut it out the exact same size as the painting.

This is the inside pocket, sewn right to the lining.

Here is the bag almost finished but needing a strap.

I still need to attach some kind of closure.  I am thinking of a magnetic snap on this one.  Then I want to try one with a zipper and then one with a drawstring or ties.

This is the painting, right sides together, side seam sewn up, adjusted so seam goes down the back of the tote, bottom sewn straight across, being turned right side out.

Oh, before turning right side out.

Close up of how I make the bag turn into more of a tall box, by giving it square corners.  You make the liner the exact same way, then attach them together.

I haven't got a close up of the strap but I choose a woven strap in blues.  It was just the right length to double it so I cut it in half to be able to have a tassel at each side and sewed the strap, doubled, to the edge of the bags.  I will try a few different strap methods in the next bags as well to see what works best, lasts, looks best.

Here is the back.  See how the side seams meet in the back.  I used the entire painting making the bag as I did.  And I am reusing the wooden frame the painting was stretched on in another project.

So the tote has already come in really handy for carrying all our towels, snacks, water, etc to the pool and the lake.  It is huge for a tote but it will be good for the library too.

I am testing this one out to see how durable it is and how long the painting lasts when in use like this.  I am now thinking I should have sprayed the painting with some kind of shellac, varnish, or top coat to help preserve the paint and make it more durable.  I need to go see what my options are at the hardware store tomorrow when I pick out paint for the Fireball.  I could spray it now but it may soak through to the liner fabric and be stinky or stain it. 

What do you think?

Off to drop Gus at his first day of work scooping icecream at The Fair,
xo-
Jennette

Vintage Suitcase Dog Bed

Looks like a vintage Samsonite suitcase....

And it was.  A big tall one.  Or extra long, I suppose.  Opens end to end, not on the side.

I forgot to have the family take pictures of me with my safety glasses on and saws-all in hand when I went to town on the hinges of this suitcase to get the two pieces to separate.  Oh well.  You can imagine it, right?!  It was easy work.  No one got hurt!

Here is a picture of what would have been the bottom on the suitcase.  It has all the latches and handles on the sides.  Instead of trying to pry or cut off all the latches, I kept this piece to use in an art project.  It will become a shadow box of sorts..... or more like a modern diorama, filled with interesting objects at varying degrees of depth and distance.  The result ends up being a sort of low-relief three-dimensionality.  But that's a whole 'nother project!!  Back to the repurposed vintage suitcase dog bed!

Here is the top half!  We had two old pillows that were going to the thrift store so instead I just relegated two older flannel pillow case to be the covers and now they belong to Shotzie!

I've been seeing these in magazines lately and online .  All the rage, upcycling suitcases, pampering your pet!  Lots of times the top is left opened and propped back against the wall, and holds doggie objects, like brush, toy, etc.  Or even a photo or piece of art!  Since this one opened end to end, I didn't have the room to leave the bottom on.  Shotzie's bed sits under a full size, old-school free standing chalk board that takes up a lot of space.  You cant really see it here, but it also limits the size and dimension of his dog bed.

Here is shaggy Shotzie, in all his glory, getting comfy in his new bed!  He needs his eyebrows trimmed!  But he loves his bed! 

I may make one more of these, with the top and bottom left intact, to use as a travel bed for him.  I found this particular case back in early summer when Jasper was going to Circus Camp in Georgetown.  Some girls pulled up in front of The Foundry, their car full of vintage cases, trying to sell them to the shop owner.  He didn't want them but my smart friend Natasha suggested that they let us take a look and they did!  They had some cool cases that looked like leather but when we opened one a dust cloud of mold and mildew spores plumed out so big and stinky it was all we could do to close it up and throw it back in the car!  It was gross!  And I deal with a lot of old gross stuff but some of the cases these girls had were nasty!  But not this one.  Not the blue Samsonite.  And it was an unusual size.  Long and tall, opening end to end.  I offered her $10 and it was mine.  You just never know what you'll find on the side of a road!

Off to pick paint colors for Ms. Fireball.

Have a lovely little day,

Jennette

1961 Fireball

We bought our 1961 Fireball Travel Trailer back from my brother!

 A couple years ago we got some crazy wild hair up our hiney and decided to sell our sweet little travel trailer to my brother.  Why we did, I am still not sure!  But he got some use out of it after hauling it all the way back to Jackson Hole and then back here to Leavenworth where he lives now.  He is getting ready to be a dad for the first time and is selling everything he doesn't absolutely need.  Lucky us because I had been telling him for a while that I wasn't sure why I ever gave the Fireball up in the first place and that I wanted first dibs on buying it back.  Low and behold a few weeks later he found out he was going to be a dad by next spring and we were on our way to buying our "baby" back!  

We bought this sweet little vintage trailer way back in 2001 or so.  It has served us so well as an extra room for guests!  When we bought it we didn't even have a way to haul it to our house.  No truck, no trailer hitch.  My dad moved it to our house for us.  And that's when I went hog wild with paint and fabric!  Now when I look inside, I ask myself, what was I thinking?!  It looks like a carnival exploded in there!  Every surface is a different color.  I think I just went and bought all the miss matched $1 paint colors from the hardware store and went to town!  Also, I used some really great vintage fabric to recover all the cushions and make curtains, back then.  On this front too, I wonder what the heck I was thinking.  More the merrier, maybe?  Every surface is a different pattern, colorway and design.  Way to busy for my taste now! 

Anyhow, this time around will be a little more civilized!  I am repainting and recovering every surface and hanging new curtains.  This time I will take a cue from the sweet vintage table top pattern and the color of the original tiles and oven, to create a nice, calming, blissful, little vintage travel trailer to call our home away from home.  I bet it still mostly gets used as a guest room but it will be nice to have just perfectly cute when we do get to haul it across state lines, to the beach, or near a river.  I will share some photos below of its current condition and then as I begin to work on it, I will post more of its progress.  Onward Ho!

 

Yellow stove top and oven.  One of my favorite features.  Jasper said, "Yes!  Now we can make scones in the middle of the woods when we are camping!"  You said it son!

The pattern on the table top and counters.  Love me some spirals!

I was so happy to see that the turquoise dish drain was still with it!  The couch slides out to make a double bed and the over head bunk slides out to make a single.  Also, the table breaks down into a bed as well.

Original paperwork in the cabinet.

State of California, Division of Housing!  Did they sell these for people to live in?!

So I have a lot to do!  As if all my sewing, crafting, antique mall space, Etsy set-up, and busy life were not enough already!  Now I've added this little project in the mix!  I cant wait to show you a photo with the banner canopy I made for it a few years ago.  I didn't give that piece to my brother and just found it the other day!  I will have more photos soon and until then, enjoy the rest of your summer!

Happy trails and travels,

Jennette

Studio Fort

There is a fort set up in my studio space.  Jasper has slept here the past two nights.  The first night he fell asleep watching Secret of Roan Inish and the second night he fell asleep watching Whale Rider.  Two of our favorite movies.  The fort has to come down today so I can get some work done.  Lots of sewing needs to happen.  I have 27 new/old patterns I have picked up in the last few weeks of zigzagging across the state.  Love me some vintage patterns.  And I have scored a ton of new/old fabric.  Projects galore coming up, folks.  Lots in the pipe line.  Be on the lookout!

Off to pick our late blueberries and check the bees.  Wish me luck!

xo-Jennette

Ticking

In between loads of laundry, dishes, repacking camping gear, and general frenzy of coming and going, I was able to take a moment to document all my ticking pillows.  Most of the striped ticking was packed away in our camping gear and I had mostly forgotten about how much ticking I have.  

 

Having all this ticking out makes me want to leave it all out.  To drool over.  To smile at. 

Here is the floral ticking below.  

Love some floral ticking!

Now to figure out what to do with all this ticking.  As if there is really anywhere left in my house for it to fit.  I guess I could stack pillows around like I stack books around.  Yep.  That's what I'll do!

Off to water the deck plants before hitting the beach,

xo,

Jennette

Return

We have returned from the ocean, our family reunion and general whirlwind of travel. 

I am happy to be home for a few weeks.

And I will be catching up on house chores, blog posts, and sewing soon.

Thanks for continuing to check in on my little corner of blogland.

Off to commune with my piles of laundry, xo, Jennette

Pickathon, I miss you!

Goofin off at Pickathon!

Oh, I can't believe it's over.  My beloved Pickathon 2010 has come and gone.  Oh, how I miss you, my Pickathon, my roots, indie, americana, folk, alt country Pickathon.  Not one other subject has been spoken of since our departure.  We will reminisce about you till the end of our days.  You give love in mega doses.  It's just like the sign in the barn says, "Your pleasure is our motto!"  True dat!  I was as pleasured then as I am now, to have the memories and loads of new vinyl to listen to. Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure.....

This may end up being a HUGE post!  I took a lot of pictures and video.  May have more images and less words as we progress.  And so.  Here we go!

Our trip started on Thursday when we camped at Beacon Rock State Park, on the Washington side of the Columbia river, in Skamania county.  Gorgeous!  We loved it and cant wait to stay again next year.  Camping here made it so that we were less than an hour from Pickathon so we could roll in early on Friday morning. 

On Friday morning we had breakfast

then bought some local honey at the entrance to The Bridge of the Gods and crossed over to Oregon.

Once at Pickathon, the real fun began!  There are a million cool things about Pickathon and one of them is that for the entire weekend, there are kids activities scheduled.  So after we set up camp we headed over to the Circus Cascadia area to try our hands at some circus stunts.  They also have yoga, self defense, tracking, wild edibles and medicinal plants walks, crafts, story telling, music workshops, theatre performance for the kids to experience.  Way cool!

Chad doing a balancing trick.

Gus on stilts.

Me on the balance board.

Jasper Hula Hooping!  By the end of the weekend he could raise his arm over his head, twirl the hoop up to his wrist, back down around his neck, and back down to his waist, all in one non-stop whirling dervish minute!  He loved it and boy did it wear him out!  He slept well at Pickathon!

Now for the music and musicians!

This is a (not so good) photo of Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews of the Everybodyfields doing a workshop in the Workshop Barn.  Oh yeah, another cool thing about Pickathon, they have an entire barn dedicated to workshops with all the musicians, on all different subjects.  Incredible!

The Fruit Bats in the Galaxy Barn!  I was SO excited to see these guys.  Big fan!  And I got to see them perform twice plus I attended Eric Johnson's banjo workshop as well.  Good Stuff!!

One of our favorite bands to return to Pickathon was Breathe Owl Breathe. Here they are on the Fir Meadows stage. We discovered them at Pickathon last year, have since seen them perform three times in Seattle, on of those at a house concert, and then again at Pickathon this year.  Yes, we are stalkers!  We love B.O.B.!!!  More below:

 

Here is Breathe Owl Breathe on The Woods Stage, a stage set in the middle of a magical forest.  Here are my kids watching them in awe:

A picture August drew about one of B.O.B's songs.

This is Michael Hurley's back!  Ha!  Love this guy!  Another awesome thing about Pickathon is that all the artists hang out in the crowd, checking out their favorite music too, and you get to see them, talk to them, appreciate them and get to know them.  It's Lovely!

Here are the Red Stick Ramblers doing a set in the Workshop Barn.  I love these guys, they are super cool, but I do love me any kind of cajun/french/Lousianna-ish music!  Chad and I were in Baton Rouge(Red Stick) last fall to see the Avett Brothers and bought both Red Stick Ramblers and Lost Bayou Ramblers, who we saw last year at Pickathon, CDs.  This is dance your booty off kind of music!  And boy did we!

Here are the Black Lillies on the Woods Stage.  Before we left town on Thursday morning, we had spent Wednesday night at The Tractor Tavern watching these amazing Knoxville musicians, along with Sam Quinn and also Chatham County Line, who I didn't happen to get a photo of but who are an amazing North Carolina string band and also played at Pickathon as well. 

This is Sean Hayes playing on the Mountain View Stage.  Look at the pretty clouds!  It was SO HOT over the weekend, the clouds provided random and welcomed bits of shade.  You can see Mt. Hood from here too but not in this picture.  Sean is an excellent musician from the San Francisco area. Bought a CD of his.  Also bought 3 Bonnie "Prince" Billy and the Cairo Gang albums on vinyl, 1 Michael Hurley vinyl, 1 Anais Mitchell vinyl, 1 Chatham County Line on vinyl, 1 Black Lillies on CD, and 1 Jill Andrews on CD.  Already had 2 Breath Owl Breathe on vinyl and CD.  Lots of new music to listen to!  Yay!

We saw a ton more music but I didn't get pictures of every single band or performance. 

 The last thing we saw before we left late Sunday night was Bonnie Prince Billy and the Cairo Gang on stage and it melted my heart.  LOVE me some Bonnie Prince!  I go gaga over them!

Pickathon is also a great place to meet up with friends and make new friends.

Here are some friend photos:

  

Karli and I chillin in the sun.

Eric, Karli, Cedar and Rowan visiting our camp sight.  We adore this lovely family and miss them now that they live in Port Townsend.  Don't get to see each other much but love it when we do!

Me with Tony, Daisy, Ruby and Cash.  Love these guys and have lots of fun being with them!

Jasper with Ruby and Cash.  Jasper LOVES his friends so much and it was such a blessing for him to have other children to run wild with all weekend!  Wore him out so he would pass out with his big brother in the tent each night so his momma and papa could go get their groove on!

Jasper with me and Daisy, my better half, more sweet, super cute "twin"!

Next I will show you some pictures from around the farm.  Pickathon is held on Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon, about twenty minutes from Portland, but out in the country.

Some of the "critters" around the farm.

Ewwww!  No, these feet aren't bruised!  They are DIRTY!!  This is what feet look like when you are having fun camping on a dusty farm!

Another farm critter and a 7th annual Pickathon t-shirt.  This was our third year attending and it was the 12th year of the festival.

Here is the amazing outdoor showers under the red tents, all made of wood and beautiful and gorgeous.  And an Airstream turned into a sauna!  Yes, a sauna!  And the other photo is of the Pendarvis Farm House.

Here is a back view of the stages with the sails strung overhead for shade and a view of the farm house mini amphitheatre in the backyard.

Pickathon is one of the first festivals I have attended that is committed to going green.  They offered one pint Klean Kanteen stainless steel cups for sale AND offered NO PLASTIC OR PAPER!  Can you believe it?! The food vendors offered some cups but gave a discount if you had your KK cup.  The bottom of the cup says, "Eat, Drink and be Wary of Plastic."  Love it!  KK made the first BPA-free stainless steel water bottles.  It is awesome that Pickathon held an event of this size, with the help of Klean Kanteen and was able to pull it off with no plastic or paper cups!  It should be the law!  In the beer garden you paid $5 for the cup and then you could buy your beer or wine. We bought a set for our vintage travel trailer and we bought the Pickathon cup cozies to use with them.  Perfect! 

So now we are home.  And unpacking and repacking for a trip out to the Olympic Peninsula for a family reunion.  I have a lot of new music to listen too and I am happy for that.  The last three or four weeks has been a whirlwind of coming and going, trips, and lots of good times.  I enjoy it.  But I am really looking forward to being home next week, for a good solid three weeks, before another trip away.  I miss my crafting, sewing, gardening, friends, and house. I am sure my space at M&M is looking atrocious.  Lots to catch up on and do.  But I wouldn't trade it for the what the last few weeks has provided in fun, experience, and adventure.  Love you summer.  And miss you Pickathon.

Pickathon!

Off to Pickathon at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley Oregon

Hope you have a lovely little weekend and I will be back Monday with a full post on the best music festival on earth!

When I Shop

When I go shopping for, well, everything, the back of my car ends up looking like this.

And the seat next to Jasper looks like this.

When I sort through all that stuff I bought at tag sales, thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales, auctions, etc., and after I get most of it priced, the back of my car looks like this when I am getting ready to take it to the antique mall where I have my space.  Bye bye goodies, hello paycheck!

Jasper is such a sport about being crowded in with all my good junk. 

This is one view of what my space at the mall looks like.  Stuffed full of vintage treasures!

Come take a peek if you are in need of some bad-ass, uber cool, stylin', good junk!  All our vendors have unique and interesting items and our inventory changes daily.  My hope is that by late fall I will also have an Etsy sight up and running so I can have another outlet for my smaller items and the few things I make.  I will keep you posted but until then, come visit M&M Antiques and Collectibles at 119 W Main St., Monroe, WA.  98272. 360.794.7660

Gotta go unpack from our whirlwind last two weeks of visiting Westport, Chelan and Lopez Island,

Whew!  Wish me luck!

Jennette