Happy Anniversary Chad!

Someday, many years from now, we'll look back on this crazy time in our life together and wonder how we did it all... and then, those ordinary, everyday moments that we often take for granted will shimmer like stars as we recount them...  I'll sit close beside you, you'll take my hand in yours.  We'll look at each other and say: "I'd do it all again... and I wouldn't change a thing."
There is no one I would rather go through life with than you.

I love you to the universe and back,
xox-
Jennette


El Dia de los Muertos

We are getting ready to celebrate our loved ones who have passed and welcome the souls of our dead.
We are not afraid of the spirits of the dead.
At this time of year the veil between the worlds is very thin.
 The dead are our friends and family, our ancestors, who gave us life.
We call them our "beloved dead."

This is a photo of Bob, Chad's dad, holding August when Gus was a couple days old.  This photo is always on our Day of the Dead alter.  We miss you Papa Bob!

Here are the skeleton figures I made, about ten years ago, of my Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen.  We have photos all over the alter of them too.

We try to collect one figure each year, to add to our alter.  We try to find ones that represent us or our deceased. Kirsten gave me the pregnant woman with the heart on her belly, when I was pregnant with Jasper and I bought us the man and woman pushing baby in a pram when I was pregnant with him. 
Birth and death are two sides of the same thing.  Death is a natural part of life.  Death is a gift of change and growth.  Birth and death are both times of new beginnings.

I made this melon-holding skeleton figure many years ago.  I fancy it to be myself.  I hope to have melon wherever I go!

Hunters, healers and helpers.  These remind us that our lives are gifts given to us by other living beings.  Because all food is a gift of a life, it is sacred.  We treat food with respect and leave offerings, ofrendas, of our deceased's favorites on the alter during this time.

Masculine energy. 

Feminine energy!

These are our sugar skulls from last year.  For the past few years I have been taking the kids to the big Dia de Muertos celebration at Seattle Center, where we made these.  They have great art activities, food, dancing, face painting, etc.  This years Mexican rememberance to remember our departed will be held Oct. 30 and 31.  Get there if you can!  It's free and fantastic!
This nun Catrina and her sister witch(below) were purchased in Nogales when my dad took me there during my first visit to his condo in Tucson.  We crossed the border to buy booze, smokes, trinkets and to feast at La Roca.  I scored on these tall, delicate ceramic figures and carried them all the way home to Seattle in my arms!
It's hard to see but she has an owl sitting on her shoulder.  The paper marigold flower she is holding is one that we made last year at the Seattle Center celebration.  And the pumpkin at her feet is one I needle felted a couple years ago.

Celebrating the Day of the Dead is a joyous occassion, not morbid.  We have a feast on All Souls Day, Nov. 2, and we tell stories of our beloved dead.  We laugh and we cry when we recount the good things we miss about the people we loved.  It's good for my kids to hear the stories and see us honoring our elders who have gone ahead and remembering the young ones who went too soon. 

We have many pictures of my cousin Michael who died in a head on collision car accident in 2003.  He was a radiant young man, full of life,happy and charismatic.  He loved to ride motorcross and he was good at it.  We miss him.
We have many photos of Chad's dad, Papa Bob, who left this world in 2000.  It took me a while too not be angry at him for leaving us but now I am able to celebrate him and tell my children about what a eccentric, crazy, pagan lovin, hippie he was!  We actually still see him, quite often, in the flight of an eagle, when the warm sun kisses our cheeks, in the babbling of a river.  We still miss him though.
We have many photos of my grandparents.  Both Gma and Gpa Nielsen, my dad's parents, and Gpa McAlpin, my mom's dad.  My kids like to hear stories I recount to them of growing up surrounded by my loving grandparents.  I spent time every month with my dad's folks and it's one reason I am no longer sad my parents were divorced.  If they hadn't been, I would not have spent a weekend every month with my dad, at my grandparents.  I cherish that time I had with them.  And my Gpa McAlpin always let me pick out horses for him to bet on at Long Acres.  My kids think this is so funny!
And we honor all our greats, and great greats, etc.  Our grandparents parents, and so on.  We put out all the photos we have and talk about how it might have been for them.  We wonder and we speculate.  We laugh with a bit of awe and feel blessed for what we have.  We love one another and remind each other that we have it so so good.  We celebrate and rejoice.  Life is good and we honor our beloved dead.  Rest in Peace, loved ones,
R.I.P.

xoxox
Jennette 




The Walrus and The Carpenter

Postcard from The Walrus and The Carpenter, Ballard.

You know how when a new idea or suggestion comes at you from three or more different angles and you have to realize that is a thing that must be attended to or must happen?  That was this restaurant for me.  Serendipity has a fun way of getting you to where you need to be!  I had read a review of this restaurant, had also been told by lovely Daisy to check it out, and  a waitress at Boat Street Cafe had told Dianah and I about it when we had our Tuesday champagne brunch there last week, and boy-howdy!, how glad I am for listening ears and reading eyes because this was a dang good meal!


OK, this will tell you something about me.  I didn't end up getting any photos of our food, but I did, of course, get a photo of my drink!  The Porch Swing!  So. darn. good. Big, tall, cold and refreshing, the thinly sliced tart apple slices were delicious in the end. It's making my mouth water just to think of it!


The cozy Walrus is lovely and just right.  We had an amazing hostess and our waiter was very well educated about the oysters and food. Oh yeah!  This is an oyster bar/restaurant! 
Since walrus doesn't take reservations we were trying to get there as close to opening as possible, to not have to wait forever.  We got there right after they opened at 4 but our friends weren't meeting us until 5:30.  We asked the hostess if she could put us on the list and she said she would if we called back, instead of showing up to wait, at 5:15.  So we took off to go thrift the Goodwill and instead of calling, just got back there about 5:15 on a Saturday evening.  Well, it was packed, and there was a wait list, and a line.  But the generous hostess knew we needed a 4 top and she gave us the next one that came available after a 5 minute wait, and even though our friends weren't there yet!  I thought it was so fabulous and and sweet of her!  It gave us time to sit with our backs against the wall and really check the place out.  It was bustling, loud and cheery.  Just perfect!

Here is a hard to see photo of the menu.  Between Chad, Tony, Daisy and I we devoured a dozen oysters and bread and butter.  T had smoked trout, lentils, walnuts, creme fraiche and pickled red onions.  D had grilled pork sausage, caramelized brussel sprouts and aioli.  C had serrano jamon, pear, and pistachio & mint relish.  I had the framani salami, pearl onions and pickled chantrelles.  Oh, and Chad and Tony both had a bowl of billy's tomato soup with basil and cream.  Chad is still talking about the soup!  Everyone thought their food was delicious.  I especially loved the pickled chantrelles and Chad's pistachio and mint relish.  Yum!
Here is a list of the oysters we tried.  I could have sat there for a very, very long time, eating oysters and having drinks.  I actually cant wait to go back, just to do this very thing!  The Shig oysters were my favorite.  Meaty and briny but sweet too.  The tumbled shells of the Shig oyster were like no other oysters shells I had seen around these parts.  They were smooth and didn't have bumpy barnacles on them.  The oysters are served with champagne mignonette, horseradish and lemon but I didn't use any of that.  Normally I would have squeezed a ton of lemon juice on but I wanted to taste the real deal, unaltered.  And I am glad I did.  The oysters didn't need a thing!  So. Good.

The Walrus and The Carpenter was started by Renee Erickson, of Boat Street Cafe fame, and her partners.  Thus the waitress at Boat Street telling us about Walrus.  Walrus is in the newly renovated Kolstrand building on the south end of Ballard Avenue.  The building is gorgeous.  It also houses a very cool bike store and Staple and Fancy, which I will be trying this Saturday for our anniversary. I will leave you with a few photos of the building and in case you couldn't tell, you should get down to south Ballard ave a.s.a.p. and check out the food.  You wont be sorry!



 
Go eat some oysters!

xoxo
Jennette




Map Cradle & Mother Blessing

Finished Baby D's cradle for one of Maurisa's Mother Blessing gifts!

I hosted a Mother Blessing for my dear friend Maurisa on Saturday.  Her son will be born in mid November so it was time to help her prepare.  I found this BIG pine wood cradle at a consignment store after being tipped off by Suze.  When I finally got over to check it out it was marked half off!  Is it tacky to say I only paid $15!  Well, sorry if it is, I just can't help admitting the amazing deal it was!
Knowing what Maurisa and Mike's rebuilt house looks like, I didn't want to leave this as a light pine cradle so at first I thought I was going to stain it with Fiddle head Fern colored stain.  It was a disaster!
It's hard to tell here but the stain just made the cradle look dingy and dirty.  It was streaky and sticky since I didn't sand first(my fault).  But it gave me the excuse to go with the idea I had originally of decoupaging the entire thing with vintage maps.  I had maps left over after covering the wall here, so I figured this was a great way to use them up, spruce up the cradle, and make a unique gift.  Plus, Maurisa and Mike have been world travelers and avid hikers so the country maps and national parks maps made sense.

Here is a process shot.  I did use border paste to adhere the maps to the cradle, just like I did there.  And I started with the bottom, worked my way up the sides to the interior, did the inside ends and left the outside ends for last.  It was easy, meditative, and fun!



I had originally intended to also paste cutout ship pictures on the maps.  After I found a 1960's era National Geographic on ships I was all set.  I cut out a bunch of the images and was all ready but then just felt like the cradle was busy enough as is.  I didn't think it needed more.  It was already perfect!

Here is the bedding that Natasha and I made for the cradle.  I wish I would have gotten a better picture of the awesome vintage kids fabric I found a couple weeks ago that we used for one side the coverlet and for the case for the mattress.  We used organic cotton batting, a layer of felted wool and a layer of puddle pad to insert into the mattress case.  
I have a thing I do for the coverlets at Mother Blessings when I host them.  You make the coverlet and then you "quilt" it by threading wool yarn or ribbon at various points around the coverlet, to hold all the layers together.  You don't tie the yarn right away but rather you leave them untied to do a sweet ritual at the Blessing.  You pass the coverlet around and you speak to a quality you see in yourself that you value and you would wish for the baby to possess.  As you state your aptitude you tie this desire into the quilt with the yarn ends and two square knots.  It's really sweet and is a very nice but simple ritual that lasts and lasts.  I think Maurisa really enjoyed the process and the entire cradle package!
Here is a basket full of the sandalwood candles I sent home with everyone so they could light one when they hear Maurisa is in labor or anytime they want to concentrate spiritual energy her way.  The tag said:

One last part I will share with you is the invite I made for the Blessing.  I made this stamp a while ago and used it to stamp various thin and delicate, almost tissue paper like, plant paper.
Then I glued the delicate papers to plain cards and made an insert for the Blessing info.
Voila!

In other news, I have a ton of crafting and sewing to catch up on!  Working on a "carpet" bag, a coat for myself, and more repurposed leather bags.  Also, I got to eat at The Walrus and The Carpenter in Ballard on Saturday night with Chad, Tony and Daisy and I will hopefully have a Jennette's Restaurant Review for you tomorrow.  All I can say now is, Get there as Soon as you Possibly Can!
And for mine and Chad's anniversary this coming weekend we got a late reservation at Staple and Fancy for Saturday night.  SO EXCITED!  I LOVE FOOD!  GOOD FOOD!  So I will have a review for it next week as well.
The cold/flu bug that's going around these parts is trying desperately to catch me and its getting a hold.  I can feel the aching rundown sore throat thing starting so if I don't post everyday, you'll know why. Garlic and elder have become my soul mates! Wish me luck!

xoxox
Jennette




Witch of the Woods

Found this awesome and strange painting down at M & M a couple weeks ago.  It's like it was meant for me.  I asked how come nobody told me it was there when I discovered it and they said something to the effect of, "Oh, its been around here for a while now.  We didn't know you would love it and we kinda forgot about it anyhow."  Just goes to show ya that you never know what you'll find when you are on the hunt for treasure!

Here is a close-up of the girl being blown away.  I love the dark feeling of this painting.  It seems so Autumnal and appropriate right now.  She is holding a stick or broom in her hand.  The sky looks dark and ominous.  It looks to be signed on the front bottom right corner:
J P Walsh.....

What!!?  So I'm looking over the back of the painting.  I'm admiring the use of old wood to make the frame the canvas is stretched over.  The wood appears to be from an old crate or sign because there are painted letters that look like advertising on some of it.  Looking closer I find old hand writing and the words: Witch of the Woods!  Total Score, People!  I have no idea who this artist is or even how old this is but I LOVE IT!

I am working up to painting a few walls in my house in the coming weeks.  I know exactly what I want to do but haven't had time yet to execute it.  But once it's done I will be rehanging a lot of the art in my house.  I hope to show you before and after pictures.   

I'm off to practice my Nacho Libre monologue for Miscast!  Don't miss out on the fun!  Monday October 25, Conor Byrne Pub in Ballard, 7:30, $10, all proceeds to benefit New Amerikan Theatre's production of Stings Like Acid.
Be there or be square!

xoxox
Jennette


Placemat and Snack Bags

Here is Jasper working on his lunch placemat for school.

This year the teachers at Jasper's school requested that each child bring a cloth napkin or placemat to use for setting out their lunch on each day.  A placemat helps define their space so they aren't sprawled out all over and it makes messes easier to clean up as well.
Jasper got it in his mind to make his own placemat.
He has been wanting to sew on my machine for a while now and this seemed like the perfect starter project since it was pretty much a few straight lines.

Here he is turning the placemat right sides out, after leaving a small opening to pull the fabric through.  We applied fusible interfacing to the wrong side of both pieces of fabric to give it some structure and heft.

Here Jasper is pushing the corners out, really well, before he finishes it by top stitching.  He choose the fabrics to go with his lunch cooler and the messenger bag I made him last school year.

Messenger bag with underwater shipwreck sea print.

Finishing the topstitching on his matching placemat.

Voila!
The red and white checked fabric came from a HUGE Ikea duvet cover.  Jasper loves to have picnics and this fabric reminded him of picnic fabric so he wanted it for one side of his placemat.  I used both fabrics plus an apple print one to make him some fabric snack bags:


These snacks bags are so super easy to make and they are so handy to have around.  I did line mine, just to give them a little more structure but you don't have to and most tutorials out there don't call for them to be lined.  I didn't use a tutorial, I just winged it, but I know Amy has a video one that is pretty good.
Jasper has been packing all his bulk snacks and cut apples and carrot sticks in these.  We haven't even had to wash them yet but we will when they need it.  I love having these to use over and over instead of plastic baggies that just get thrown away every time. 

In other news: I have been rearranging my studio and thus, the house, so things are in a bit of disarray here at the moment.  But I was inspired to move my sewing desk in front of the big picture window for both more light and a great view for this coming winter.  Also, I had to make room to bring in my potted banana tree, potted fig tree and potted blood orange tree.  I am determined to help them live through the winter this time!  I am loving how all this rearranging is coming along so I will try to share some photos with you soon.  I am also preparing to host Maurisa's Mother Blessing this coming Saturday so I will be busy, busy all week.  I may not have a post every week day, this week, but I will try to be in touch!
It's almost hump day!
Hooray!
xoxoxo
Jennette



Vintage Altered Halloween Portraits!

Last year at this time we decorated, altered, embellished and otherwise upcycled these cool old vintage photo portraits we had in the basement.  I had been collecting these for a while and had not taken them down to the antique mall yet.  And I had seen a similar project that inspired me to dig these out and get to work!
This was a family art project.  We got out paper, glue sticks, tape, etc. and our creative juices began to flow!  Forgive me now if these are offensive to you.  Just look away!  But this is my families idea of scary.  Boo!

I can't remember who made which one and most were collaborative anyhow.

Most of the colored paper is applied with just a tiny dab of glue stick so it can be removed later, if need be, and it wont damage the portraits anymore than they already are damaged.

We hang these around the house using big vintage paper clip type holders that are hung on a tack.  Or, I have a handful of vintage clipboards that can hang on a tack while the portrait is clipped to the board.

Freaky Baby!
So, be sure to send me a link of your altered photo portraits if you get inspired to make some yourself!  I'd love to see what creativeness people can come up with!  These would be fun to do at other holidays too, like bunny ears at Ostara. 

Make Art, Create, be Creative!

xoxox
Jennette



Fedora and Slippers

Vintage yo-yo's, all sizes.

Jasper's favorite fedora was in need of a small repair.  On the back edge of the brim it was fraying and unravelling.  It would have been hard to sew and make it look good so I figured a patch was in order.  When all else fails, use a patch!

Jasper could care less if his favorite fedora is falling apart.  I had to convince him to let me have it for one evening to figure out what to do with it.  He liked the idea of a vintage yo-yo patch.

This patch seemed boyish enough and a good match/contrast to the fedora.  So work began.

The pinning.

And sewing.

And done!

While I was at it though, I remembered that Jasper had a pair of slippers that needed embellishment.  His school requires them to have slippers to wear indoors during the school day.  His were very generic looking and several other kids had the exact same pair.  So his needed to be distinguishable.  And guess what, I have a bag full of vintage yo-yo's, did I mention that!

Out of the entire bag of yo-yo's there were only two that matched.  Crazy!  And they were also boyish enough that they worked.  So now Jasper has a mended fedora and some fancy slippers.  Lucky Boy!

Here's to a lovely little fall weekend Friends!  Drink some cider, gather pumpkins, rake the leaves and enjoy the season!  See you back here Monday....
xoxox
Jennette


Harvest Heels

Ummmmmm......  OK, so we all know I don't wear heels on a daily basis.  But if I did.....  I would wear either of these Alexander McQueen heels.  In a heartbeat.  Especially the sheaths of wheat.  Give it to me, baby.  Main line the McQueen heels. It's a sickness.  Sickness, I tell ya. Sick!

xoxo
Jennette

Salve Making

Herbal salve, beginning to set up.

Spent Sunday with some friends making herbal salve.  I had a ton of herbal infused oil that needed to be transformed.  Maurisa and I had gone to Zenith Supply in Seattle last week to stock up on containers and beeswax.  We were thrilled to find the big fat roll up containers that look like extra huge chapsticks!



I had infused olive oil with Balm of Gilead, St. John's Wort, Yarrow, Comfrey and Calendula.

Weighing out the beeswax.

Measuring out the oil.

Mama to be, Maurisa, stirring the pot!  Melting the beeswax into the oil.

We liked watching the beeswax melt into the oil.  Most recipes call for the beeswax to be grated but since we were doing it by weight, we just left it in litte chunks.  After the wax was completely melted in the oil, we put a little spoonful in the freezer so it would set up and we could then test its consistency.  We wanted a little more solid of a salve so it would hold up in our chapstick containers and not be too mushy.  So we discovered that we needed to add a bit more beeswax after the first freezer test.  The final oil to beeswax combo was perfect and we began pouring it into our containers.
We ended up having to top off a few containers to make them look pretty but otherwise it was easy, normal and fast.  Once you have infused your oils, the rest is easypie.  You just have to have your supplies handy and, Voila!, just like that you have salve for your cuts and bruises, healing tattoos, and baby butts!
Salve makes great gifts.  You can add pretty labels and your friends will think you are some kind of witchy she-shaman with super powers! 
I recommend a few books for anyone just getting started.  Check out Gail Faith Edwards Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs, Susan Weed's Healing Wise, and James Green's The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook.  These will give you basic recipes and get you started on the path to righteousness!  Ha!
I started out several years back making tattoo salve for myself and my friends.  I continue to make tattoo salve but it is also good for general use. From my perspective, anything that is not a petroleum product is good for healing! 
MAKE HERBAL SALVE!
You won't be sorry!
Just do it, already!
Go on!
Give it a try!

Happy salve making lovelies,
happy, happy,
xoxox
Jennette






Glam Witchy Haunted House!

The Glam Witch, in all her glory!

I had an old dollhouse down at the antique mall that had been there for months.  When I did this big reset of my space last week I decided I was done with it there and I was going to turn it into a haunted house.

Here is a photo of the house as I started to tape off the roof.  I liked the dark gray slate color the roof was so I wanted to preserve it.  Everything else I wanted black!

See.  The lite green and red simply wouldn't do for a haunted house!

I am giving you a view from every angle so you can understand how much this needed to become a haunted house!

First coat of spray paint.

Ah ha!  Haunted house base ready for embellishment!

So I found this little doll down at the antique mall and she was $5.  Her eyes are kinda wild and her hair jet black so I just thought she'd make a great little witch.  I remembered that I had that little cupcake topper jack-o-lantern bucket to hang off her arm and I found a tiny key to hang off the other arm.  She ended up with a hand charm necklace as well.  Lucky girl!
I made her the black hat out of construction paper.  I added glitter trim, a silver star and feathers coming out the top.  She is looking real witchy with her hat on! 
Once I had the silver glitter out, it was all over!  In the sense that I wanted to glitter-fy everything!  So I added glitter trim to the house to give it some bling.

I added cheesecloth behind the windows and then glued in long black feathers.  I added really small details that are hard to capture but I will try to show you.  I had some agate beads that are black birds so I glued them above some of the windows.  There is a bat hanging out in the eves, some spiders on the roof, a skull in a heart and limbs hanging in the windows!


The arm and leg charms are little Milagros from Mexico.  They come in handy as spooky elements.

There just happens to be a lamp on behind the house so it gives the windows a nice glow.


"Why you call me Crazy Eyes?!"

Here is a view of the back.  You can see how it all got painted black, wallpaper and all.  If I don't sell this house soon I am going to be tempted to furnish all the rooms!  Yes, I do have miniature vintage doll furniture.  You know I do!

Watch out!  She'll try to get ya!  She has a bucket full of glitter and she isn't afraid to use it!

So that's the haunted house I have been working on.  Upcycled, recycled, and repurposed.  Good as new!  I put a high price on the whole sh-bang for now because I wish I had the room to keep it and don't want to see it leave so fast but I will likely mark it down by next week if its still there.
Not a lot of sewing in the past few days.  Worked on some baby gift items and have a lot of sewing projects planned but it all comes down to the amount of time I have to sew in one day, people.  There just aren't enough hours!
Off to do some pasting,
xox
Jennette




Antique Mall Space

Vintage Map Wallpaper

Last week I spent some time down at M&M Antique Mall, redoing my space.  Most of the wall was peg board and I couldn't stand what it looked liked.  I had a box of vintage maps from my Grandpa's stash and there were plenty enough to cover the walls.  The maps make a nice backdrop for all the various treasures I have for sale in my space, #23.  I forgot to take a photo with everything away from the wall but you get the idea.

Here is part of my Halloween display.  I have costumes for sale too.

I highly recommend Boarder Paste for a project like gluing old maps to walls.  It rolls on the back of the maps and then you smooth the maps against the wall and you have wallpaper!  Its pretty fantastic, quick and easy, especially when you are using paper as big as maps.  They cover up the wall fast and the border paste makes it simple to do.


All of this is for sale now!  Anything you see in these photos is fair game!  Come and get it!

I am bringing in new items almost daily.  They don't like it when I drop stuff off that isn't priced so I just bring a little at a time as I go through the massive piles in my garage.  I should have taken a picture of the stacks in the garage to show you.  As I purchased items over the summer they mostly just got piled up in the garage until I could deal with them.  I knew I was going to be doing a major reset of my space at M&M so I was reluctant to take all the garage stuff in before I had the walls redone.  Now it's game on and I almost have a clean garage!

My awesome friend Kathy helped me rearrange all the furniture in my space and she helped with merchandising all my items.  Kathy has an amazing knack for decoration and display.  I will do a feature soon of her space at the Antique Mall and make sure you check out our windows next time you stop by.  The windows are Kathy's handiwork!

See the large blue plate rack hanging on the wall?  You should have seen Kathy and I trying to get this thing lifted up while attaching it to the wall.  Comedic!  But it's done and I love it up on the wall rather than sitting on the floor.  It came from Left Bank Antiques up in Anacortes, Washington.  I love that place and I love this Portuguese plate rack but I have no room for it at home now.  Its the perfect blue!

This little blue cabinet is one I got from Kirsten many years ago.  It used to be in the kitchen of their first house.  Then I had it for a while before I ran out of room for it too. 

So space number 23 is looking pretty fabulous!  Thank you local friends who have stopped by to see what's new recently!  Mighty kind of y'all!  And I appreciate the warm feedback and comments y'all give.  Very sweet! 
I'm off for a run and to work on a top secret project for a friend's Mother Blessing!
xox
Jennette


Upcoming Music

Micah and Andrea of Breathe Owl Breathe, the last time they played at The Tractor in Ballard, Seattle, WA.

There just so happens to be a ton of good music coming up at local venues so I wanted to give you a heads up in case you want to check out some new music for yourself.

Fred Eaglesmith will be at the Tractor on Tuesday October 12.

The Morning Benders will be at Neumos on Monday October 18.

Breathe Owl Breath will be at the Tractor on Thursday October 21.

The Head and the Heart are at The Crocodile on October 21 as well, and again on November 2 at Neumos.

The Fruit Bats will be at The Showbox on Friday October 22.

The Starlings are opening for The Hackensaw Boys at the Tractor on Saturday October 23.

Sean Hayes will be at the Tractor on Wednesday November 17.

Hope y'all have a lovely little weekend!  I'll be back Monday with posts on a witchy glam haunted dollhouse, projects, sewing and more.
Cheers!
xox
Jennette




Strange Worlds!

Matthew Albanese creates amazing miniature worlds to be photographed.

In these photos, the tornado is being made by using steel wool, cotton, parsley and moss! 
Isn't it fantastic?!!

Found via the lovely Astulabee

From Matthew's website:
My work involves the construction of small-scale meticulously detailed models using various materials and objects to create emotive landscapes. Every aspect from the construction to the lighting of the final model is painstakingly pre-planned using methods which force the viewers perspective when photographed from a specific angle. Using a mixture of photographic techniques such as scale, depth of field, white balance and lighting I am able to drastically alter the appearance of my materials.

Tap on Matthew's name above to go check out his website.  You will enter a magical and spellbinding world!  Who knew?!
Amazing!

Off to continue work on the haunted/witchy/Halloween house.  Will have some photos to share soon.  It's coming along.  Just needs some final touches before unveiling.
xox
Jennette

Natasha's Bag and Badge!

This is the bag/sling/tote I made for my girl Natasha, for her Birthday!  Happy Birthday Sweetiepie!

You might recognize this awesome orangey-brown leather from this past project:

Yes!  This was a leather trench coat!  You might remember that I cut out the middle part and made myself a leather and blue velvet bag, retaining the belt loops and button front.  I still had the top half and bottom half left over so I made Natasha's bag using up the bottom half.

I used the same vintage army canvas I gushed about using for my own bag.  And I also used a tweaked version of the same pattern as well.

This is the lining and small inside pocket of the bag.  I used a vintage mushroom fabric.  I ran out of "tree wood grain" fabric so the mushrooms were the next best thing.
(Yesterday I did manage to procure 5+ more yards of the wood grain fabric for future projects.  Thanks Mom!!)

A peek inside the finished bag.

Here is Natasha opening the box that had her bag in it.  See the, "What the heck is in here?" look.  She had no idea I was picking her up to go have dinner with our friends.  She got a few surprises this night!

She looked happy when she realized there was a leather bag in there for her!  I didn't get any photos of her holding it but she seemed to like it. 

Did you notice her Birthday Badge in the photos above?  Here is a better view:

And a close-up:
"It's My Birthday & this is My Party!"

Once again I used a vintage milk cap to form the base of the badge, just like I did here.  I scrunched the crepe paper into a ruffled circle and glued it to the back of the milk cap, added "ribbon" to hang down, sewed a nice pin to a piece of felt and then glued the felt to the back to make it a badge.
You could make a birthday badge out of almost anything.
They are fun and festive and necessary so
make some!

Work continues in the Smashing Rubbish Studios!
I have a few more bags in the works, some different styles,one "carpet bag" made from a vintage rug remnant, and more made from oil paintings.

Working on a "Haunted House,"
xox
Jennette

 




Wool Pants

The Felted Blanket Wool Pants, first attempt, are Done!

OK, all you nature school friendz.  Here they are!  The first go round of super thick, warm, soft and felted wool pants cut from an old wool blanket that I felted in the washer.  What do ya think?  I wish you could see and feel these in person.  If I played in the woods every week for several hours I would certainly be making myself a pair, stat!
Here they are unhemmed.  Jasper was not so sure about these at first.  They really are SO thick.  But now they are hemmed and he is getting used to what they feel like.  I think they will be superb when worn with his REI undergarments.  To me they are super soft but his sensitive skin may need the long-john barrier.  I left off the pockets for now since the front ones on this pattern require sewing them into the side seems.  I could see no way that my machine would play nice with that much thickness!  I have an old pair of his cargo pants that I may just cut the pockets off of and attach to these.  They would be cotton pockets but I think it would be OK.  Also, I may use a contrasting felted wool piece to make knee patches but I can add these or pockets any time.  For now he just needs a chance to wear them for a day to see how they hold up.  It was so nice on Friday he wore "regular" clothes to Tracks and Tales.

Here is a back view.  I used the thickest felted blanket I had to try to ensure durability.  I have several more blankets but I am thinking they wont felt up as thick as this.  Which makes me wonder if I can make these for other children and have them last.  I was hoping to make and sell some but I would need to feel good about the undestructiveness of the pants!  I have a load of blankets in the wash now so we will see if they felt as thick as this.  This particular blanket has a nice basket weave type of pattern to it as well that seems to add to its strength.

I used a vintage canvas type material for the waistband and draw string.  We'll see how this holds up too.  The drawstrings are attached to elastic that goes across the back but inside the waistband.  And the elastic is stretched a bit and attached to the side seems where it also attaches to the drawstrings.  Does that make sense?  So the elastic can't move around and the drawstrings finish up the job of cinching the pants on tight enough to stay up.  This method works nicely to prevent losing your drawstrings inside your waistband casing.

So the experiments continue!  All the extra length on these just got hemmed up to the inside so I can let the hem out as Jasper continues to become a giant!  And if they last that long.  I was concerned about the hemming because that doubled again the thickness I was trying to sew through.  But it worked!  My machine complained just a tad but with a little finessing it cooperated.
What are you all making, upcycling, or repurposing these days?
Do what you love friendz!  Make art, create, imagine!

Don't Follow your Head, just Follow Your Heart.
xoxox -
Jennette
 


The Head and the Heart - Down in the Valley (Live at the Mural)



  Here is a mellow version of this song from when they did a free show at the Mural in Seattle.  I was not at this show but I did get to see them busking at The No Depression Music Festival this summer and they just opened for Vampire Weekend which I took Gus to see last week.  Both The Head and The Heart as well as Vampire Weekend were amazing!  I had never been to a show at the Paramount that was general admission and I have been to a lot of shows there.  It was so great to get to stand up and dance and shake my booty the whole time. 
These guys are fabulous!  Plus Charity plays the violin and y'all know how I play/dabble (in) fiddle so I like to see girl violin players, especially in roots, americana, folky-pop music.
Their CD has been playing over and over and over again in my car.  Not because I am too lazy to switch the CD but because I LOVE them.  These are the kind of songs you can belt out at the top of your lungs!  Its SOOO Good!  And my kids like it too.
And they are local!  If you listen to KEXP, like we do, then you have probably already heard of them.  Lucky You!

They have a few local shows coming up in October and November so check them out if you can.  I will be going to the November show since in October they are playing the exact same night as Breathe Owl Breathe and I have had tickets for that for a LOOOOOONG time!I wish I could add every video of every one of Head and Heart's songs here but since I cant you can go over to youtube and check them out.  They did a live in studio for KEXP and all those are super good.  Especially Ghost, which has a great few lines, "One day we'll all be ghosts, trippin around in someone elses home.  One day we'll all be ghosts, ghosts, ghosts.  One day we'll all be found, no longer lost just hanging around.  One day we'll all be found, found, found."

So I hope you have a happy little weekend!  See you back on Monday with wool pants, more bags, a look at my lovely new antique mall space, etc.
Until then, smooches,
xoxo
Jennette